Dawn Of War
by BeetZel
Summary: What if the stories for Dawn and War Of The Planet of the Apes had branched off onto a different path? One that shows of what could and may have been for our favorite apes? Leading into a new path that they could or could not have led. A rewritten story for Dawn and War for the planet of the apes, along with everything else in between. Please enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello readers! I will like to welcome you to my newest story! I have finished War For The Planet Of The Apes and was deeply moved by the film, albeit it was very sad. Anyways I wanted to write a story that had a "What If" situation that would follow closely from where Dawn started, leading up all the way towards War?**

 **Also this story will probably be a KobaxCaesar story as there aren't that many of those and I've come to find out that these two characters cared way more deeply about each other as I've read the official books and watched them on screen. This is of course based on my "own" opinions and thus is the reason why I am writing this fic.**

 **So hopefully this alternate timeline, err fic will not deter you all and I just hope you guys or ladies, give it a chance and enjoy it. I will use elements and characters from the official movies, books, comics and games but I will let you all know before hand who each new character presented in the chapter will be. Please if any of you enjoy my story, do leave a comment or two and if any of you have questions, do feel free to ask. Thank you and Happy Readings!**

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Koba's milky and single green eyes darted from one ape to the other as he followed behind both Blue Eyes and Caesar. The bonobo idly scratched at his neck as he observed both father and son. He could sense shame and embarrassment emanating from the younger chimp while the older one merely kept a stoic composure of calm, a look that Koba himself had come to respect and envy from the other chimpanzee whom he's known for years now. He couldn't help but feel a little bad for Blue Eyes, noting that both father and son were in trouble when the younger of the two had strayed off and was attacked by a big bear. Luckily Caesar had came in to stall the beast and cry out for help. Were not for Koba's sharp sense of hearing and quick thinking the apes would have had a great tragedy if they had lost both their king and prince.

So here they are the hunting party making the long trek back towards the confines of their home that they built out of wood, nestled deep within the Redwood Forest. As soon as they sighted the gates of their home the hunting party was greeted with excited hoots and grunts. Koba stopped by the open gates and looked around, noticing many of his fellow apes had split off to rejoin their families and or loved ones as they embraced one another. Grunting himself, Koba glanced around and was quite surprised to see Blue Eyes off to the side by himself. Taking notice that the young prince still looked down trodden, Koba took in a deep breath and got off his horse. He then made his way on over towards Blue Eyes letting out a grunt, alerting the younger ape of his presence.

"Don't feel bad, Blue Eyes…" Koba gestured with a smile on his face before placing a hand upon the younger chimp's head, "scars make you strong." He had finished before giving Blue Eyes several pats on the shoulder, careful not to hurt the fresh open wounds.

As Blue Eyes was lead away from the open gates by the older bonobo he offered Koba a small smile.

"Thank you…" Blue Eyes gestured before he frowned once more. "Father must think I am a failure…" he finished with downcast eyes again.

"Your father does not think that you are a failure, he is just worried for you. Almost lost you to bear that attacked you," Koba reassured the young ape whom merely grunted in response.

Before the two could speak more, one of the midwives had came down from Caesar's home and let out a frantic call, alerting the chimpanzee. Upon hearing Sparrow's frantic cries both Koba and Blue Eyes watched as Caesar quickly ascended the steps of his home towards the top where Cornelia most likely was. Feeling Blue Eyes tensing up beside him, Koba faced the younger chimp and gave him a soft pat on the back.

"Go to your family. They need you now," Koba gestured, gaining a nod from Blue Eyes as he too followed his father up the step towards their home.

Watching the young prince climb after his father, Koba eyed the great tree that was Caesar's home. As Koba watched the two ascend towards the tree he couldn't help but feel quite empty all of a sudden as he stood there all alone as apes passed him by in a sea of black, brown and red fur. Staring up at the tree that housed Caesar's home a bit longer, Koba shook his head to rid himself of this thought and decided to find something to take his mind off of things. Taking notice of several of their hunters butchering their latest kills, Koba decided to join them.

…

Later that evening the ape colony was in a great celebratory throng, welcoming the birth of their new prince. All apes gathered round as Caesar announced the arrival of both his and Cornelia's new child, Cornelius, whom was aptly named after the newborn prince's very own mother. With a great roar the apes through up their arms into the air as drumming started all around them with great apes of all various species making their way towards the king and queen to brings gifts and greet the newborn infant.

Koba watched as both Rocket and his family, consisting of Tinker and their young son Ash, approach Caesar and Cornelia. He observed as Tinker fonded over the child before she gave Cornelia a set of wonderfully woven necklaces that was woven with various different shells. Cornelia had then smiled at her good close friend and hugged the other female ape and thanked her for the gifts. Ash on the other hand had smiled down at the infant once, congratulating both his honorary aunt and uncle before he hopped on over and sat by Blue Eyes' side. Rocket on the other hand had embraced Caesar strongly and had informed his best friend of how happy he was for them to expand their family with strong blood.

As soon as Rocket's family left it was Koba's turn to see the newborn and he slowly approached Cornelia, peering down at the sleeping infant in her arms. His good eye observe the baby ape before glancing up at his queen and then turned towards Caesar.

"Very strong boy. Like his parents and brother," Koba gestured to which Caesar and his family thanked him in kind.

The scarred bonobo then produced a small makeshift spear and offered it towards Caesar whom slowly reached out and accepted it from the older ape.

"A gift for Cornelius," Koba signed as he smiled down at the infant once more.

"Thank you my friend," Caesar gestured back to which the bonobo nodded, repeating the process towards Cornelia and Blue Eyes before he left the royal family so that many other apes may greet them.

The moment Koba took his seat by one of the stone platforms he was immediately greeted by several other apes, those being that of Rocket, Maurice and another fellow chimpanzee with a mixture of brown and black fur who goes by the name of Grey.

"You were amazing earlier today Koba. Able to save both Blue Eyes and Caesar's life from bear," Rocket gestured before placing a hand upon the bonobo's shoulder.

"Yes and for that I and most of the other apes thank you greatly friend. Who knows what we would have done without Caesar and Blue Eyes," Maurice hooted in as well.

Koba smiled at the praise that he was getting from his fellow brothers.

"You all would have done the same," Koba responded back as he too patted Rocket's broad shoulder and nodded once at Maurice.

As the the ceremony extended further into the evening, eventually Koba had heard several commotions behind him. He then noticed Rocket, Maurice and Grey glancing past him and they all stood up. Curiously the bonobo turned around and was quite surprised to see Caesar making his way towards him. Getting up on his legs and bowing down, Koba offered his palm up as a show of respect towards his king to which Caesar glided his hand upon it. Glancing back up at Caesar, Koba could see the great warm smile emanating from his brother in arms, with the chimipanzee reaching on over, taking a firm grip on his outstretched arm and pulled the bonobo to stand next to him. At first Koba was confused by this sudden gesture and was going to ask what Caesar was doing but paused when his good friend signed first.

"You saved both my son and my life today Koba," Caesar signed to the still puzzled bonobo before gesturing towards the giant bear hide that was being presented.

Koba looked back and forth from the hide and his king before it clicked in his mind of what Caesar was doing. Now understanding that Caesar was giving him such a rare pelt from today's hunt, Koba himself was deeply moved by such an offering. Huffing out a gasp, Koba brought up a knuckle and placed it over Caesar's chest before he gave the chimpanzee a hug.

Caesar on the other hand was quite happy that Koba did not turn down his gift and after their quick embrace he placed his arm over the older ape's neck and turned around, facing his apes of their home.

"Apes! Together! Strong!" Caesar announced, gaining hoots and bellows in return from his people.

Koba on the other hand couldn't be happier as he stood next to his wonderful king, friend and brother in arms whom had liberated him from the humans that had tortured him. Hearing Caesar shout out those words towards their ape brothers and sisters, Koba couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth and pride blooming from within him he stood up and cheered along with the rest of the apes. Feeling eyes on him, Koba turned back and noticed Caesar smiling down at him to which he reciprocated with a smile of his own. Letting out a happy huff, Koba then knew, that from that point on he would do anything to protect Caesar and their people.

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 **There's the start of my story. I will try to update whenever I can and if you guys do like the story feel free to drop and comment or two. Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Koba woke up with an upstart from a loud sound, a sound that he'd thought he would never ever hear from again. With his heart pounding from within his chest, Koba quickly leaped out of his bed and rushed out of his front door. As soon as he emerged from his dwelling, Koba's good eye scanned around to see if they were under attack and all seemed to be normal as confused apes emerged form their homes as well. His good eye soon spotted Maurice standing atop of the stone platforms with Rocket just beneath it.

" _Maurice? Rocket? What is going on?_ " Koba signed as he stopped in front of the two other apes.

" _Do not know. Just heard loud noise,_ " Maurice signed back.

" _Sounded like gun,_ " Rocket gestured, noticing Koba's eyes widen slightly.

"Gun?" Koba hissed with is fur bristling.

Before either apes could say more, Caesar made his presence known as he had quickly descended the steps and looked around the colony. Everyone then again turned their attention towards the top of the wall as one of the bonobo's gestured quickly, saying that he heard the noise had come from southeast from there. Caesar nodded in thanks to the other ape before he gestured to all the able apes to make haste and follow him into the forest.

Not liking this, Koba glanced around quickly and picked up one of the spears off of the side before he followed Caesar, Maurice, Rocket and the other apes into the forest.

Keeping in stride with many of the apes as they rushed through the forest, Koba could hear the familiar frantic cries from Blue Eyes and then something else. This other sound that he heard in tangent with Blue Eyes' own frantic calls did not belong to an ape but yet it sounded so familiar. Only one other animal could make such a horrid sound and it ignited something deep within him, causing him to quicken his pace and with double the vigor.

Soon enough the apes scaled over the ridge and Koba was met with an ugly sight of several humans, all huddled together and holding their guns out while Blue Eyes was standing in front of Ash just a few feet away. Landing on the ground his eyes widen slightly when he took note that Ash was bleeding from the left shoulder. Setting his good eye upon the humans once more Koba bared his fangs down at them. Before he could make an advance though, something big and grey flew past him, heading straight to the two young apes. Blinking several times, Koba was quite surprised to see that the blur was none other than Rocket whom stood protectively over both of the youngsters.

Koba then noticed Caesar making his way slowly onto a tree stump and waved his hands to calm down the rest of the apes. Koba couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion at their leader. Didn't he know that the humans were holding onto guns? Weapons that could kill them with one shot? Why would he put himself out in the open like that?

" _They shot Ash! Shot my son!_ " Rocket hooted frantically, drawing Caesar's as well as everyone else attention.

" _Rocket, wait,_ " Caesar signed to his frantic brother, hoping to calm him down before turning his attention back to the humans.

As the apes glared down at the group of humans one of them suddenly shouted.

"We don't mean any harm!" the human had announced.

At this point Koba himself was fuming with anger with his cheeks expanding as he breathed forcefully. Didn't mean any harm? Did they not see that they had just wounded an ape? They would always destroy and harm things before stating that they did not mean any harm. Words of lie, such is the way with humans. They really do never change Koba continued to think to himself.

Observing Koba and the rest of the apes noticed the humans talking quietly among themselves as they shifted around uncomfortably. Good writhe in fear he continued to think. A little moment longer dragged on and then the human I the blue coat slowly lowered his weapons and raised his arms as if to show that he wasn't dangerous.

"Go!" Caesar suddenly shouted at the humans.

Koba couldn't help but huffed out a momentary grin as the humans jumped back at the commanding voice from Caesar. When they didn't move, Caesar then jumped down from his perch, landing in front of the human in blue and glared at him, whom started to back slowly away while muttering.

"Go!" Koba shouted as well, echoing Caesar's earlier bellow of warning.

With that the humans stumbled around like buffoons as they quickly turned tail and ran off down the trail with the angry cries of apes roaring behind them.

Glaring at the humans as they leave, Koba then noticed Maurice walking off down to the side of the trail and picked up an item that one of the humans had dropped.

Maurice seemed to have regard the items for a moment as he turned the objects in his hand over once before he lumbered on over to where Caesar was still keeping his eyes on the retreating humans. Giving a soft rumble, he grabbed Caesar's attention and offered his friend the bag with the strap in his right hand.

As Caesar studied the bag he handed it back to the orangutan and turned his attention back down the trail.

"Koba!"

At the sound of his name, Koba step up next to Caesar, awaiting for his orders.

"Follow!" Caesar said aloud and gestured at the same time.

Caesar needn't say no more as Koba quickly got on all four and trailed after the humans, followed by both Grey and Stone.

…

Koba , Grey and Stone sat within the trees as they watched the humans frantically get into their vehicles while shouting obscenities at one another. While they sat there and waited the three apes were then joined by a fourth ape.

This ape was yet another chimpanzee with dark fur and fierce green eyes. Although what makes him different though was that the whole left side of his head, all the way down to the neck area was covered in scars, in the shape of fishnets. Pope is this chimpanzee's name and just like Koba he had also been the by product of human experimentation and torture.

Koba and the others glanced at the arriving ape as he landed next to them but paid him no further heed turning their attention back to where the humans were.

" _Are those all the humans?_ " Pope asked as he noted two of the vehicles rumbling to life.

" _Yes, all six of them,_ " Stone answered.

"They are moving," Koba grunted, standing up.

The bonobo then leaped into the air and took a hold of a branch, swung himself over and reached out for another as he pursued the vehicles. Grey, Stone and Pope were quick to chase after the scarred ape as they followed Koba down the slope of the forest all the way to the edge where they could see the giant bridge where they had run across from so long ago. As they trailed after the humans deeper into the city the four of them settled on top of a building that was crowded with vegetation, enough to cover them from searching eyes.

" _Lots of humans still,_ " Grey noted, gaining a growl from the bonobo beside him.

The four of them then eyed the giant tower that stuck out from behind the human wall with several cranes perched high in the sky.

" _What do we do?_ " Stone asked, turning to look at Koba.

" _We inform Caesar,_ " Koba simply gestured back, his good eye still glaring up at the tower a moment more before he roughly turned around with a huff.

…

Making it back to the edge of the redwoods Stone and Grey scouted on ahead. Following closely behind the two apes Koba heard a hoot behind him, causing him to stop atop of a branch.

" _What is it?_ "

"W _e should tell Caesar to attack the humans? Not good to have them so close to the forest and our home. Could pose a threat to us all,_ " Pope gestured, landing on the branch besides Koba, gaining a grunt and nod from the bonobo.

" _I agree, humans very dangerous. That is why we must go back quickly and inform Caesar of this,_ " Koba signed back to Pope whom merely smiled at the bonobo.

" _And if he doesn't attack the humans. What then?_ " Pope asked, noticing Koba mull over his words.

"Humans will attack... Apes will die... Maybe put apes into cage. Again," Pope breathed, as he traced a hand over his own scars, "remember human cage?" he finished.

Koba stared at the scarred chimpanzee for a long while before his features changed to that of determination and he glared at the other ape.

"Caesar will not! Let that happened! To us!" Koba rebuked before leaping away, leaving Pope behind.

The scarred chimpanzee merely scoffed at the bonobo before glancing behind him to stare at the remains of the human city. Narrowing his green eyes at the humans tower, Pope slowly followed after the three apes.

…

The moment they reached the gates, Koba and the other apes ran right into the center of the colony and called out for their king. Koba turned to look at Grey and Stone whom nodded at him before they ventured off and sat down by the side of the stone platforms. Pope on the other hand merely offered a glance of acknowledgement before he bounded off and took a seat next to two gorillas as they observed the council meeting from afar.

" _What did you find out?_ " Red, a gorilla with a tinge of reddish brown fur that covered most of his head, travelling all the way down to his shoulders, asked as Caesar's council started.

"See for yourself," Pope offered, gesturing at Koba whom was furiously signing and pant hooting.

" _There are more humans?_ " Rex, the other gorilla with dark fur asked amused, turning to look at Pope whom was observing Caesar's council with quite some interest.

" _Yes… quite a few,_ " Pope answered absentmindedly as he watched Koba struggling to gain some support, turning to Rocket whom shot the scarred bonobo down by stating that he only follows Caesar's choice.

 _You're not going to sway Rocket there friend, he's already offered his loyalties to Caesar._ Pope mused to himself as he watched Koba desperately now turning to Ash and get the young chimp to agree with him about attacking the humans.

 _Not him either._ Pope chuckled quietly while Red and Rex stared silently.

As the panting and hooting escalated among the council members Caesar's voice suddenly cut through the air, silencing all the apes around him. Pope on the other hand was not amused by this and merely frown at the chimpanzee's outburst.

"Home. Family. Future," Caesar had spoke and signed towards his council members, turning towards Koba and lifting the other ape's face up with his finger, meaning well by it.

" _He will decide by morning? Why not now? It is not that hard to decide if we should attack the humans or not_ " Rex mocked, gaining a scoff from Red who stood.

Both Pope and Rex glanced up at Red who narrowed his eyes at the council members before the russet gorilla stomped off.

Rex then turned towards Pope and noticed that the scarred chimpanzee was rubbing his chin particularly as he eyed the apes still sitting by the platforms. Returning his sights back to the council platforms Rex noticed that Koba had bounded off after their king. He stared as the scarred bonobo had started to converse with the chimpanzee.

 _I wonder what they are talking about?_ Rex thought to himself.

With a grunt, Rex rose onto his feet as well and dusted himself off. Glancing back down at Pope, Rex noticed that the scarred chimpanzee was keenly observing both Caesar and Koba intently. With a huff, Rex took his leave, leaving Pope to his thoughts as he kept his sights upon the two apes from afar.

…

" _Isn't this exciting? We get to see the humans!_ " Ash gestured while pant hooting and applying white paint onto his chest.

" _I don't understand why you are so excited. The humans shot you,_ " Shell, a chimpanzee with a single white colored ear, as he was aptly named for, gestured at the eager ape.

" _Maybe because he's developed a love for the humans,_ " Flint, another young chimpanzee mocked before returning to apply more war paint onto himself.

" _I do not! Besides, it was an accident. You were there Blue Eyes. Tell them_ ," Ash turned to his best friend whom was busy applying his own warpaint.

Blue Eyes on the other hand narrowed his eyes at Ash and let out a grunt before he turned back towards his reflection on top of the waters and traced a trail of red with his thumb onto the middle of his forehead. Once finished, Blue eyes knuckle walked on over to where Ash stood.

" _We need to be careful around the humans Ash. Who knows what other danger they pose,_ " Blue Eyes signed, gaining a sad whine from the other chimp.

There was a crashing noise and the young chimpanzees screeched as paint suddenly flew out of nowhere and landed on them, sans Blue Eyes as he was lucky to be just far enough from the splatter.

Fox, a bigger chimpanzee, hooted and turned around to see who was the culprit that had thrown the paint on them and saw a white gorilla with a apologetic look on his face.

" _Sorry! I-I slipped,_ " the white ape gestured apologetically as Fox, Shell and Flint stomped towards him.

" _Look what you have done!_ " Fox growled as he pointed to the ruined warpaint on his torso.

" _It's just paint. We'll just reapply,_ " Ash quickly got in between Fox and the white gorilla.

" _Not when this one is around!_ " Fox gestured before pointing an accusing finger at the gorilla whom seem to shrink into himself. " _He's always causing things to go wrong,_ " Fox finished.

"He said he was sorry. Just calm down," Ash signed, hoping that Fox would just let it be.

Before things could escalate even more there was a loud thud, causing all the apes to turn around and see Rocket standing up.

" _What are you all doing. We are leaving,_ " the nearly hairless grey chimp signed before turning around and taking off.

Fox glared at the white gorilla once more and with a huff turned around to follow Rocket and the others.

Blue Eyes and Ash was about to follow suit but was suddenly stopped by the white gorilla whom tapped Ash's shoulder.

" _Thank you,_ " the ape had signed.

Ash merely perked up and smiled at the big white ape while Blue Eyes merely scoffed and knuckle walked off.

…

Like a dark mass of ants covering the buildings and roads the apes slowly converged towards the center of San Francisco. With their spears held tight and eyes on the lookout for any signs of danger the only sounds that one could hear were the pants and hoof beats of the horses.

Leading them was none other than Caesar who rode on his horse with his chest held high flanked by his most trusted of apes. Letting his eyes wander towards his left, Caesar watched as his son, accompanied by Ash looked around curiously. Of course many of the younger apes had never seen the human city before and it all must be so new to them. Be as it may though, Caesar and the older apes knew just how dangerous what the human buildings could be potentially hiding within them. So Caesar was quite glad to find out that many of the younger apes were able to contain their excitement from straying too far from the group.

Eventually the apes made it to the humans settlement. Upon seeing them the humans had quickly dispersed and huddled beneath the entrance of the tower that housed them all. Soon enough the human from the day before had walked out and approached the apes, albeit cautiously.

Caesar glared down at the man as he approached with his horse and then glanced back up at the humans behind him.

"Apes! Do not! Want war!" Caesar announced, gaining shocking murmurs and gasps from the human colony. "But will fight! If we must!" Caesar finished before glaring down at the human in front of him once more.

Throughout all this Blue Eyes observed the humans, noticing their fear of them. Peculiar, because he had been informed throughout all his life that humans were nothing but monsters that would torture their kind but from what he could see they were just as fearful as they were of them. Noticing his father turning back towards him, Blue Eyes got off of his steed and approached the human with the bag held in his arms. Stopping in front of the human, Blue Eyes sized up the man momentarily before tossing the sack at the other creature's feet and stalked back to his horse.

Keeping his eyes on his son as the young ape walked back to his own horse did Caesar slowly faced the humans once more. He then noticed the man in front of him bending down to retrieve the small brown back, looking back up at him with what seemed to be a thankful glance. Letting out a huff Caesar then turned his steel gaze back up at the humans behind the man.

"Ape! Home!" Caesar shouted, pointing behind him, "Human! Home!" he pointed towards the tower.

Caesar paused for a moment to let that all sink into the human's mind, letting his eyes roam around at all of them before settling back down onto the man who stood before him.

"Do not. Come. Back," he warned the man in front of him then turned his horse away and slowly trotted off, followed by the rest of the apes.

Koba on the other hand, glared at the humans, turning his attention down towards the man who had walked up towards Caesar earlier. With a huff, he turned his steed around and followed suit. If the humans knew what was good for them then they would stay in their settlement within the city and leave the apes alone in the forest.

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 **And here ladies and gentlemen is chapter 2, now on with the introduction of new characters for this chapter...**

 **Pope and Rex are from the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Comic 6 issue series by "BOOM! Studios" and will play major roles(if you haven't already known) in my fic.**

 **Fox, Shell and Flint are making cameos from the WFTPOTA: Revelations book.**

 **Red should be known by now and will play some roles later.**

 **Everyone who is reading the story should already know who the white gorilla is.**

 **If you enjoy the story please leave a comment or two and I'll be working on chapter 3 in the meantime.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Honestly the first part of this should've been added to the end of last chapter... Anyways here it chapter 3.**

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The trek through the woods was a long silent one as Koba followed Caesar and the rest of the apes. Glancing up every now and then he could see Caesar and Maurice converse with each other.

" _ _What if the humans need something?"__ the orangutan asked.

" _ _I've already told the humans to stay where they are. They should not be coming back into the forest,__ " Caesar would answer back.

" _ _But what would you do if they do come back? The humans only ever come into the forest if they need something,__ " Maurice countered to which Caesar took in a deep breath and thought about it.

Koba tilted his head at the two apes, it was faint but he could hear Caesar's answer.

"I don't know…"

…

Sharpening yet another spear, Koba checked his handiwork within his home that was built with wood and leaves. The pitter patter of rain made a soothing rhythmic ambient sound for him as he worked away. Today unfortunately there was not a lot going on due to the rain. The males couldn't go hunt, the females couldn't go foraging within the woods and the little ones had to stay close by with their parents as the teaching grounds was bombarded with by the drizzle. So in the meantime, Koba did what he did best and made some spears to replace the ones that were broken that he had used.

The bonobo stopped when he heard Luca's warning cry that echoed all around them. Emerging from his homestead, Koba was greeted by the many confused faces of the other apes as they too heard the gorilla's loud bellow. Hefting his spear, Koba made his way on over towards the entrance and was quite surprised to see the Gorilla Guard dragging one of the humans into the colony. The human was tossed into the mud and then quickly got up with his hands raised into the air. He then approached the man and looked him over once before Luca started to push the human towards the stone platforms where Caesar was now standing.

It was quite amusing for Koba when he saw the human groveling as Luca had pushed the man down into the mud but the bonobo didn't let that show on his face. When Blue Eyes came up next to him, Koba gestured to the young prince to not get too close to the human as he started sputtering nonsense to their leader. As the human stood up, Luca then knocked the man back down whom quickly apologized before turning towards Caesar once more.

"I need to show you something. Its not far," the man wheezed.

"Human! Lies!" Koba shouted, gaining the approving hoots from all of the apes around the man.

"No. I swear. If I can just show you, then you'll understand. Please," the man begged.

The man then turned around and flinched when he saw the giant spear pointed right at him. Quickly turning back to look up at Caesar the man looked on with pleading eyes, hoping that the ape would not order his death for breaking the rules. Suddenly to the human's surprise the chimpanzee held up his left hand and all was silent.

"Show. Me." Caesar said simply to which the human closed his eyes as relief filled his being.

…

" _ _Where do you think the human is taking us?__ " Ash asked as he followed close behind his father and uncles.

" _ _Don't know. Don't care,__ " Blue Eyes gestured back, annoyed.

" _ _But you must want to know and do care to find out. Is that not why you came along?__ " Ash signed back earning a scowl from the blue eyed chimp.

Eventually the apes were lead to a giant river expanse that flowed gently but steadily towards a man made structure of some sort that had broken trees piling up to one side of it. As the human lead them on he showed the apes a way into the structure and excitedly started to explain his purpose to them. Going off to one side of the room, touching some machinery here and there and finally turning back to look at them with a wide grin on his face.

" _ _What do you think he is saying?__ " Ash asked, tapping Blue Eyes on the shoulder who grunted at him to keep quiet.

"Is… Any of this making any sense to you?" the man asked.

"The… Lights," Caesar responded to which the human's face lit up with happiness.

"Yes the lights," the human beamed before his face changed and he looked at all of them. "This is your home… And I don't want to take it from you, I promise. But if you let us do our work here-"

"You brought others?" Koba growled, taking a step towards the human who backed away quickly.

Caesar raised his hand up, stopping Koba's advancement and simply stared at the human, waiting for his answer.

"Just a few. I'm not a threat. And if I am… I guess you can kill me," the man finally finished.

The apes watched as Caesar stared down the human for a long while before he spoke.

"Humans stay. And work. But. No guns." Caesar stated simply.

"Okay. Okay… No guns," the man huffed out with a happy sigh.

…

Traveling back down the mountainside Koba watched as the human walked on over towards the vehicles and talked with his people. Glancing back at Caesar, Koba wondered why he was allowing the humans to do whatever it is they are doing. Now he didn't understand what the human was blabbing about when they were by the waterfalls but he knew that it would give the energy and power. Power for them to use as a resource to turn on the apes. Hearing the vehicle doors opening, Koba set his sights back upon the humans as they discarded their weaponry into one pile and nervously looked to where they were at. Rocket and Luca were the ones to approach the humans and seize their weapons and take it away. The humans could do nothing but watch nervously as they unloaded their belongings from the vehicles and looked at the apes for directions.

Apparently Caesar had already picked out a spot in the forest from where the humans could stay. It was also so that the apes could keep a close eye on them as well, to make sure that they wouldn't harm the apes. Following a small trail, Caesar had lead the humans to a spot that was just over the ridge to where the dam was at and had several flat areas to which the humans could set up camp. With his hand raised up, Caesar had turned around with his horse and stared down at the humans.

"Camp here?" the man had asked to which Caesar did not respond, "okay…" he finished, setting the giant contraption that he was lugging around onto the ground.

Koba then narrowed his eyes as he watched the human walked towards Caesar, readying himself if the human had suddenly for some reason to attack their king.

"Uh, thank you…" the man thanked before placing a hand over his chest, "Malcolm," he announced before saying his name once more.

"Caesar," Caesar grunted simply before turning his horse around and trotted off.

…

Back at the colony Koba and the other apes sat around a big fire as Rocket could be heard smashing the human weapons into bits and pieces while his son, Ash sat by. The scarred bonobo looked around at his fellow brothers and spotted Pope from among them, sitting just across from him. The scarred chimpanzee was looking off to the side at Rocket breaking apart the firearms before taking notice of Koba staring at him. The two scarred apes eyed each other for a long while before the chimpanzee relaxed his posture and slowly brought his hands up, making sure that it was just Koba that could see.

" _ _Humans. Power. Guns. Kill... Cage,__ " Pope gestured and tilted his head up to where Caesar was sitting, noticing the scarred bonobo's fur bristling slightly.

Koba narrowed his eyes at Pope who signed to him and bared his fangs slightly. However the chimpanzee was right, Caesar's compassion was going to get them all killed and it was up to him to set his friend straight. The bonobo suddenly got up, confusing Grey whom was sitting next to him, and stomped off towards Caesar.

" _ _If the humans get power, they'll be more dangerous! Why help them?__ " Koba huffed and puffed while signing to his friend.

" _ _What did you say to him?__ " Rex asked, tapping Pope on the shoulder.

Pope smiled up at the gorilla and turned back to see Caesar signing back to Koba.

"Motivation," Pope finally answered.

"Let them," Koba uttered towards Caesar. " _ _We'll destroy them while they are weak.__ "

" _ _And how many apes will die?__ " Caesar countered to which Koba didn't have a response to. " _ _We have one chance for peace… Let them do their human work. Then they'll go,__ " Caesar finished.

At this Koba couldn't help but scoff as he looked down and scratched at his neck.

"Human work?" Koba asked staring straight into Caesar's eyes, confusing the king slightly. "Human work." Koba said a little bit louder, pointing and showing Caesar the scar behind his left ear. "Human work." he continued by this time pointing to the scar on his right arm. "Human work!" Koba now practically shouted as he drew his hand down the left scar and blind eye on his face, gaining the attention of all the apes within the vicinity.

After a brief moment, Caesar slowly stood up and glared down at Koba whom blinked a couple of times before he suddenly knew that what he did was wrong. Heaving out a breath, Koba quickly squatted down and raised his palm up towards Caesar to ask for forgiveness for his sudden outburst.

Feeling Caesar's hand swipe over his own, Koba slowly stood back up and eyed his friend whom was still glaring down at him. After a brief pause the scarred bonobo turned around and slowly walked away stopping momentarily he noticed Pope. The chimpanzee seemed to be giving him a pitying look and shook his head slowly from side to side as if he were disappointed. Taking in a deep breath Koba avoided making eye contact with the fellow scarred ape and continued on with his head hung low.

After seeing his uncle turned away like that Blue Eyes suddenly stood in front of his father.

" _ _Koba says that apes should hate humans. That they-"__ Blue Eyes tried to defend his uncle but was stopped by a grunt from his father.

" _ _Enough! From humans Koba only learned hate. But nothing else,__ " Caesar explained to his son as he kept his eyes on the retreating scarred bonobo.

Blue Eyes on the other hand merely huffed and followed his father's gaze to where the Bonobo was. Standing there, contemplating on what to do, Blue Eyes glared back up at his father before he too stomped away from the rest of them, ignoring the small hoots from Ash who tried to call out to him.

Pope observed with amusement as Caesar was losing the battle to maintain control on both his son and friend. As both scarred bonobo and young prince left the vicinity, the scarred chimpanzee too stood up and made his way on over to where the Gorilla Guards stood by. Nodding a greeting at some of them, Pope's eyes scanned around until he finally found the two apes he was looking for. Approaching the two he had let out a low hoot to announce his presence.

" _ _What brings you here?__ " Rex signed at the scarred chimpanzee while Red merely stared silently.

" _ _How goes your end? Any progress on your parts?__ " Pope had asked.

" _ _We haven't spoke with all of them yet but a few of us agree that Caesar is becoming weak,__ " Rex answered.

"And you?" Red asked, piercing green eyes glaring down at the scarred chimpanzee whom nonchalantly sat on top one of the logs.

" _ _Nothing much yet. Like you two I've only spoken to a few apes as well. Like us they think Caesar is growing soft on the humans,__ " Pope gestured to which Red and Rex merely glanced at one another.

" _ _Who was that? Who yelled earlier?__ " Red questioned the scarred chimpanzee who's face lit up with a smile.

"An ally," Pope responded.

Once Koba was out of sight and alone, he couldn't help but tremble slightly as he wrapped his arms around himself. What had just happened? All he remembered was that he was trying to tell Caesar that they shouldn't help the humans. But then Caesar had told him that the humans just needed to do their work and that was when he suddenly lost himself, seeing the colors red. The next thing he knew, Caesar was glaring down at him and he had quickly asked for forgiveness.

Breathing heavily, Koba closed his eyes and slowly calmed down his shaking nerves. After quite some time Koba could feel himself returning to normalcy, slowly opened his eyes and stared down at his body. Slowly bringing his arm up, Koba stared at the deep white scar that stood out from underneath his dark colored fur.

Koba knows that Caesar would never know what atrocities he's been through. Never know what the humans were capable of doing. Why couldn't his friend understand all of this? But there was another ape that did understand him quite well. One just like him. Used by the humans. Tortured by them. One whose experimented the same pain like he did - Pope.

The memory of Pope warning him about Caesar not attacking the humans will bring nothing but ruin and destruction upon their kind. At first Koba didn't want to believe what the scarred chimpanzee had warned him about but now he wasn't so sure. He was afraid that maybe, just maybe the other chimp was right and that due to Caesar's love for the humans will get both him and the rest of the apes all killed. Lowering his arm Koba stared up at the dark night sky. He'll have to go back to the human city to see if the humans were planning to attack them.

As he stared up at the stars like many a nights since he's been free. Koba's hand slowly reached up and touched the left side of his face, where his scar ran down it, painful memories suddenly flooding his mind.

"Human work…"

…

Later that evening Caesar walked into his home and noticed Cornelia wheezing as she slept upon their bed. Seeing her like that worried him and he slowly approached, slipping into the bed hopefully not to wake her. Unfortunately his presence had caused his mate to wake but she didn't seem to mind as she rounded herself to face him, a smile upon her features. Caesar himself couldn't help but return the smile as his eyes darted to the little sleeping one sleeping stop of Cornelia before he turned his sights back upon her lovingly.

" _ _You sound sick… You okay?__ " Caesar asked worriedly before placing his hand atop of the sleeping Cornelius.

" _ _Just need rest,__ " Cornelia had responded as she wheezed slightly.

Cornelia could see the troubled look upon Caesar's face and she offered a small smile towards him.

" _ _You worry about the humans?__ " she had asked, confirming her suspicions as her mate nodded at her.

Cornelia then took a hold of her mate's head and brought them in close together, placing their forehead upon each other to help ease his mind. At this Caesar had relaxed but his mind was still troubled by what had happened just earlier. He had wanted to inform to Cornelia that he was also worried about their son and Koba but he didn't need for her to worry, given her condition.

So instead to help ease his mate, Caesar slowly lifted Cornelius off from Cornelia and held onto the little one so that she can properly sleep. Cornelia stared at him lovingly, thanking him with a kiss before she closed her eyes and within moments, fell back into a deep slumber. Watching his mate and child sleep, Caesar's worry ebbed away a bit before he lifted his head as he heard someone approaching their home. Soon enough Caesar could see the sky blue colors of his son's eyes staring at him.

As Blue Eyes entered their home for the evening the young ape could see that both his parents were already at their bedside, his father still up as the older male turned towards him. Blue Eyes narrowed his eyes at his father momentarily before the wheezing noise coming from his mother had caught his attention. Glancing over towards his sleeping mother, Blue Eyes approached his parent's bedside, his angry features slowly melting away to that of confusion and worry.

" _ _What is wrong with mother?__ " Blue Eyes signed towards his father.

" _ _Your mother is a little sick,__ " Caesar answered back slowly, careful to not disturb Cornelius.

Letting his gaze wander on back towards his mother, Blue Eyes' shoulders dropped a little at the sight of her.

" _ _Is she going to be okay?__ " Blue Eyes asked.

" _ _She will be after some rest. Go to sleep son,__ " Caesar answered.

Nodding once at his father, Blue Eyes backed away slowly from his parents, silently knuckle-walked to the other side of their home where his own little cot was at. Climbing into it quietly, Blue Eyes laid his head upon the moss bedding and closed his eyes, hoping that nothing bad will happen to his mother.

* * *

 **Again if there is any questions or anything any of you find wrong about my writing do let me know. Thank you!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Greetings readers! Here is chapter4.**

 **Now I want to warn you all that there are several foul languages at the end of this chapter and wanted to let you all know beforehand.**

 **Also I noticed that if you change the font from the regular Verdana(I think it's that one) to another one the " _Italicized texts with quotes"_ are easier to read for the sign language parts. "Regular text with quotes" is normal speak by the way.**

 **Besides that there's not much else, other than enjoy the story.**

* * *

As Caesar slept peacefully through the night he sudden felt pressure upon his chest, followed by several thumps. Cracking open and eye, Caesar was greeted with the smiling face of his youngest child, Cornelius, whom was busy running his little hands on top of his father's chest fur before standing up and jumping once more. With a grunt, Caesar slowly sat up and held Cornelius close towards him while tickling the infant all the while. Smiling, Caesar was rewarded with the small pant laughter from his child as he placed with him. He then let his gaze wander on over towards his mate and found out that she was still wheezing in her sleep. Caesar's features changed to that of worry as he reached on over to feel his mate's head before bending down to kiss her on the cheek.

Caesar then chose to rise out of the bed as quietly as he can so that he would not disrupt Cornelia with Cornelius held within his arms. Staring into little Cornelius' bright curious eyes, Caesar smiled warmly at his baby before he walked away, leaving Cornelia to rest. Padding through their home quietly, Caesar approached Blue Eyes' bedside and stared at his oldest son.

Keeping his gaze upon Blue Eyes, Caesar couldn't help but let a frown form upon his lips. It had only been recent but for the life of him, Caesar couldn't understand why Blue Eyes was acting out against him. Was it something he did wrong? If so he wished dearly that Blue Eyes would explain it to him so that he would understand what was going on through that young apes' mind.

During his thoughts, Caesar's gaze soon fell upon Blue Eyes' wounds. Scars that streaked across the young ape's cheek and torso. Reaching out Caesar gently touched the young chimpanzee's injury and frowned at himself. Caesar had wished that he had been more careful that day and was thankful that Blue Eyes had escaped death. Caesar himself wouldn't know what he would have done if he had lost Blue Eyes. He then moved his hand and placed it gently upon the young chimp's head, smiling warmly as the young ape leaned into his touch. Even if Blue Eyes was stubborn, rebellious, and defiant, Caesar would still love him no matter what. He just wished that Blue Eyes would know that.

Upon waking up Blue Eyes froze up at the sight of his father standing over him with his little brother in the older ape's arm. Recoiling and shoving his father's hand away from his head, Blue Eyes sat up upon his cot and stared up at the older ape.

"What are you doing?" Blue Eyes signed at his father, annoyed.

Caesar frowned at his son's reaction but nonetheless gathered himself before speaking in a quiet voice.

"Get ready. We need to go."

…

Maurice had just exited from his tree home and noticed Koba pacing by the gate's. The orangutan frowned and slowly approached the scarred bonobo. Letting out a few grumbles to make his presence known, Maurice greeted his fellow ape.

" _ _Greetings Koba?__ " Maurice addressed the scarred ape to which the bonobo merely grunted back in response.

Maurice paused and frown slightly at the gruff reply but he guessed that he was already expecting it, given the circumstances of what had happen yesterday evening. Maurice observed the bonobo a little longer before Koba had abruptly stopped in his tracks and then faced him.

" _ _Do you think what Caesar is doing is right?__ " Koba signed quickly, his shoulders rising and dropping with each breath he took.

Maurice was quite surprised to see how much the scarred bonobo was fuming, raising his brows a bit. However to hopefully calm down the bonobo, Maurice was careful to not show any forms of agitation on himself.

" _ _I do not know. I however know that what Caesar is doing is trying to prevent both apes and humans from going to a war. He wants only peace Koba. That is all,__ " Maurice tried to explain.

It seemed that the scarred bonobo didn't appreciate his answer and went back to pacing once more. It pained the orangutan to see his friend, or any ape in that matter, to be in such a state like this. Koba had never exhibit such defiant behavior before. Well… Not since they've all first met him those first few days so long ago. He understood fully well that Koba had been hurt by the humans and Maurice had wanted to really help the poor ape but the bonobo mostly kept to himself on that subject of matter.

"I'm going hunting!" Koba barked and before Maurice could say anything the bonobo bounded away.

With a grunting sigh, Maurice deflated himself his green beady eyes watching the bonobo's backside disappearing as he rounded the gates. With a blink, Maurice then let his gaze wander around before he took notice of a particular scarred chimpanzee peering down at him high upon the wooden walls. Looking upwards, Maurice stared into the unnerving eyes of Pope, an ape that he hadn't had much interaction with but knew that like Koba, was also mistreated by the humans. The two of them were locked in a long stare before the scarred chimpanzee got up and silently descended down the other side of the wooden barricade.

…

As morning pressed on, Caesar, Rocket, and Maurice had gathered many of the apes and traverse the forest trail to where the humans had camped at. Before they left, Caesar had ordered Luca and many of the other gorillas of the Gorilla Guard to stay back and protect the colony while they were gone. Luca gave a grunting nod and pounded his chest once in response to their king.

Making their approach to the human campsite Caesar was quite pleased to hear from his scouts that Malcolm and his group of humans had kept to their word and stayed put during the night. Once they had arrived the apes were surprised to see that the humans were still just rousing from their slumber. Caesar mused to himself as he could recall that most humans needed something called "coffee" to get themselves up in the morning, a long time ago. Shaking the thought away, Caesar hardened his face as he awaited for Malcolm's crew.

Guiding the humans back to the dam had been easy enough and Caesar soon stood by the water's edge with his horse, along with Rocket and Maurice. Hearing someone coming up behind him he turned and saw that it was just Blue Eyes whom was holding onto his little brother. Green and gold speckled eyes darting from the two young apes, to behind them and finally upon Rocket and Maurice the chimpanzee king noticed that someone else was missing from their group.

" _ _Where is Koba?__ " Caesar questioned, knowing that the bonobo was usually not far behind, wherever they'd go.

After a few moments of glancing around and seeing that the scarred bonobo was nowhere in sight, it was Maurice who turned towards Caesar and answered him.

" _ _He still angry. Said that he was going to go hunting…__ " he explained.

Upon hearing this, Caesar's heart started to pound within his chest as he cast his eyes out towards the forest that stood in front of him. __Oh, Koba… What are you doing?__ Caesar thought silently to himself.

…

" _ _Look, there are humans below,__ " Koba signed quickly as he stood atop of the Golden Gate Bridge.

" _ _What is that sound?__ " Stone questioned as he could hear popping noises in the distance.

All the chimpanzee got though was a grunt from the scarred bonobo whom quickly descended the arcing truss of the bridge. Turning toward his companion Grey for clues, the brown haired chimpanzee merely gestured the sign for " _ _gun__ " before following after Koba.

Swinging through the bridge the three apes finally settled down beside one of the buildings. The three apes looked on silently before Grey turned up towards Koba.

" _ _Why are we here?__ " he had asked.

" _ _Caesar trusts the humans… I do not,__ " Koba answered back with a scowl on his face.

Hearing a thumb behind them the three apes turned around and was quite surprised to see that Pope had followed them.

" _ _This does not look like hunting?__ " Pope questioned as he eyed the three apes in front of him before his gaze wandered on down to where the humans were and then back up at them again. " _ _Unless… You three are hunting humans,__ " he joked with a smile, getting weary looks from both Grey and Stone while Koba merely scowled at him for his jest.

Before anymore could be said the four apes turned their heads when they heard gunfire. Following the noise, the four apes found themselves within a long stretched hallway. Beckoning to the pipes overhead, Koba silently grabbed onto them and started to swing himself towards the two unsuspecting humans below. Following the scarred bonobo the three other apes stopped when Koba had paused and signed for them to wait.

Watching Koba leave and hanging there with both Grey and Stone, Pope huffed quietly as he swung in front of the other two chimps and stared at them.

" _ _We need to keep an eye out for any danger, you two go to the other end of the hallway. I'll keep watch here,__ " Pope gestured with one free arm.

" _ _Why do we need to go back there? You were the one that followed us. You should keep an eye out,__ " Stone shot back with a frown.

The bottom part of Pope's left eye twitched once as he stared at Stone before he closed his eyes slowly and nodded a couple of times.

" _ _Of course…__ " he signed back as he slowly swung away, a scowl set upon his face.

Once he reached the end of the hallway and looked around momentarily, Pope's dark eyes gazed back at both Grey and Stone as the two chimpanzees looked around. With a silent growl, Pope rounded the corner and quickly swung through the other side of the building.

As Koba entered the storage space the scarred bonobo was greeted with piles upon piles of different kinds of firearms. Hopping down the ledge he let his good eye wander around letting out small heaves as he took in all the sight. With the sound of gunfire blasting behind him Koba had been afraid to confirm his suspicions. The humans were prepping themselves to go to war with the apes and if Caesar were to give them power, then what would stop the humans from attacking the ape colony and wiping them out? He needed to inform Caesar and the rest of the apes about this.

If there was one thing that Pope hated, it was something did not go his way or if another had talked back to him. Glaring at Stone from off to the side, Pope held a piece of broken cinder block within his hand. Holding the object, Pope aimed carefully and tossed it towards the humans below. With a clank and thudding noise made by the pipes the object fell onto, Pope immediately left his spot and watched from his new hiding area.

When the cinder block landed on the ground next to the long haired human man turned his head to the right. Pope observed as the human slowly got up, check his gun and then proceeded on over to where he thought he had heard the loud noise. This stupid human had indeed angered Pope as well. If the man had turned around and looked up, he would've spotted the form of both Grey and Stone and shot them down. But know the human had to veer towards his right and made his way towards the weapons storage room.

"Hey!" the man shouted when he spotted an ape looking around the storage area. "Don't you move! Don't move, do you understand me? Huh! Terry!" he continued shouting.

 _ _Now this was a different outcome.__ Pope thought to himself as he hid behind a wall, not expecting this to happen. Rubbing his chin, Pope narrowed his eyes as he observed the human's interaction with Koba, now that he's been found. __What are you going to do Koba?__ Pope mused, taking noticed of both Grey and Stone as the two apes now appeared up in the rafters with worried looks as the man called out to his other companion.

Koba on the other hand was glaring up at the screaming human as he called for his companion. So many things were firing off within him mind right now. As his thoughts raced through his mind, Koba noticed the human's friend suddenly entering into the room as well, gun held up and pointed right at him.

"Holy shit!"

"What do we do? What do we do?"

"Where did he come from?"

"Should we shoot him?"

"Maybe? I-I don't know?"

Koba watched the two humans bicker back and forth as he eyed them, deciding on how to deal with the situation that he's in.

"You are one ugly son of a bitch, aren't you?" the human that had less hair mocked Koba.

Koba didn't know what that meant but he was pretty sure it was something humans would say about the appearances of others. He wanted to bare his fangs at the dumb human but what he felt didn't matter right now. All that matters was how he was going to get out of this situation that he was in, alive. Breathing haggardly, nothing was coming to mind for him. He needed something, anything to distract the minds of these two buffoons.

Wait a minute? Acting like a buffoon. Something that humans highly enjoy at the expense of others. Dreaded memories suddenly hit Koba like a flash bang, memories he had wished that he had forgotten, but there they were. He honestly did not want to go through with what he was about to do but in dire situations called for dire actions. Even if they did bring back painful and awful memories. Taking in a deep breath and clearing his mind momentarily, Koba allowed those painful memories to flush back into his mind, about a time when he was but a young ape and had starred in a show… What was it called?… "Monkey of the House…"

Exhaling, Koba had suddenly blew out a raspberry at the two humans, causing them to freeze on the spot with stunned faces. Opening his mouth to what the humans would call a smile, Koba threw up his arms and teeter danced around just like how he was taught in the old days, via harsh whippings, courtesy from his cruel human owner - Tommy. Pounding his chest and letting out small pant hoots, Koba approached the two humans whom were still quite astonished by his act.

"Wha-whoa, man" one of the humans say wearily with their guns pointed at Koba as he approached them.

Koba then pointed to his mouth and then pointed at the long haired human as he panted and did the gesture several more times, confusing the two.

"Dude… I think he's hungry."

"He must have gotten separated from the others… You lost? Trying to get home?"

When the human had asked him a question Koba, frowned, showing the two humans that he was indeed lost.

"Go on! Get out of here, stupid monkey! The short haired man yelled at Koba while the scarred bonobo whimpered and ducked his head.

"Go on. You heard him. Go!" the long haired man chimed in as they ushered the scarred ape out of the room.

Looking back several times, Koba had put on an innocent face as he left the two humans but as soon as he was out of sight, his frowning and scared features were immediately replaced by a scowl.

During all this, Pope had watched fervently at the interaction between Koba and the two humans. He for sure that the bonobo would have been killed on the spot but to his surprise he was not expecting Koba to suddenly change like that. There was much more to the bonobo than meets the eye so it would seem. As soon as Koba left, Pope quickly swung back towards the end of the hallway and swung towards the three apes that now stood on the ground.

" _ _I checked. No humans coming... What happened?__ " Pope feigned ignorance as he looked at the three apes in front of him, acting as if he did not know what had just happened.

Both Grey and Stone turned to one another worriedly before turning back towards Pope.

"Did you not see? Koba almost got shot by humans," Grey gestured.

"What? How?" Pope questioned, worry written all over his face.

Before anything else could be said more, Koba cut their conversation short as he jumped back in.

" _ _No time to explain. Enough guns here to kill every ape… Must warn Caesar,__ " Koba signed quickly as he looked behind him once before facing the others again. " _ _Who knows what the humans are really doing up there,__ " he finished by pointing up towards the dam and then leading them away.

Both Stone and Grey nodded and glanced at Pope before they followed the scarred bonobo up towards the pipe and onto the bridge. The scarred chimpanzee turned back around and eyed the many human weapons once over, lifting up his head when he heard the humans on the other side.

"That was kinda cute yeah? What the monkey did."

"Dude… Yeah... still an ugly son of a bitch though."

And the room was filled with chuckles and laughter as Pope huffed out and quietly followed the other three apes.


	5. Chapter 5

Sitting there while waiting for the humans with his father, Blue Eyes and uncles, Ash was bored out of his mind. The young chimpanzee lazily glanced around before he stretched himself while letting out a long yawn. During this though Ash had let out a surprised hoot when he felt something smack his side. Turning to see who the perpetrator was Ash's eyes widen at the sight of his father's shoulder's shacking with quiet laughter. A mischievous look overcame the young ape's features and he reached out to push and nudge at the older ape whom playfully reciprocated the action while Caesar and the others watched.

The father and son's antics were cut short however when a sudden loud explosion had caught all of the ape's attention. With weary glances at each other, Caesar and the others quickly made their way towards the dam's entrance. As they entered the area, they could hear the human's frantic screams further into the dam.

" _ _Rocket,__ " Caesar gestured towards the grey chimpanzee before bounding to where the humans were.

Following the frantic screams Caesar and Rocket came upon a door where the humans could be heard from inside. Before Caesar could reach out to open the door a burly hand stopped him.

" _ _I'll go look,__ " Rocket gestured before turning to glance at both Ash and one of the gorillas that had came with them, " _ _follow,__ " he finished as he opened the door and walked inside.

As soon as he stepped into the room, Rocket was met with the smells of wet metal and dust. Soon enough his son joined his side, followed by one of the gorillas who had volunteered. The three apes looked around slowly before the sounds of more humans crying out had caught their attention. Peering down the dip that lead into the abyss below, Rocket and Ash could see a couple of humans staring back up at them.

With a grunt, Rocket leaped over the bars and nimbly made his way down the ladder and pipes to where the humans were. As he landed with a small splash the grey chimpanzee stared up at the two humans whom back away from him. The younger human then pointed with a shaky finger at the piles of rubble that had fallen, blacking the drain pipe. With a acknowledging nod, Rocket moved on over towards the rubble pile and quickly moved a piece. He was then rewarded with one of the human's face as light shone from behind him down through the hallway. Looking over his shoulder, Rocket nodded at his son whom stood wearily by.

" _ _We need to get the humans out,__ " he simply gestured.

…

It took a while but the apes were able to free up the blockage that had trapped the four humans and freed them. Luckily the humans had only came out with scratch and bruises, sans one of them as he seemed to have accumulated more damage than the others.

Caesar watched as the humans were tending to their wounded and noticed the one that named Malcolm approaching them slowly. As soon as the human stopped he looked at all of the apes before he set his eyes upon Caesar last.

"Thank you. You saved our lives" Malcolm thanked Caesar and his apes before slowly continuing. "We've got a lot of debris to clear now… We might need more time."

"How long?" Caesar asked Malcolm before letting his eyes wander down to the side when he heard Cornelius letting out a small excited squeak.

Blue Eyes watched tentatively as the humans had worked on each other, wrapping their wounds in strange wrappings of some sort. His sky colored eyes then noticed the human covered in the blue coat coming over and thanking them. Listening tentatively to his father and the strange human, Blue Eyes had not expect Cornelius to have suddenly jump out of his arms. With a grunt the young prince tried to grab his younger sibling, only barely missing the infant. With an annoyed sigh, Blue Eyes had quickly got off of his steed and followed his little brother as the young ape bounded away from him.

Blue Eyes froze when he noticed his little brother climbing up upon the female. At first the human was surprised but then that quickly disappeared as her sudden shock was quickly replaced by curiosity, wonder and then joy as the little ape played with her hair. __Curious__ , Blue Eyes had thought to himself as he watched Cornelius interact with the humans. For all that he was taught by Koba, he had assumed that the humans were monsters that had wanted to hurt apes in general.

Here Blue Eyes could see that these humans were nothing like that. Instead, they seemed to enjoy Cornelius' presence as he played with their clothing. That feeling was immediately dashed though, as one of the humans had suddenly stood up while yelling at the young ape before flinging a piece of cloth at him. Screaming, Blue Eye immediately charged in and pushed the human over, away from his little brother. Hearing another human coming up from behind him, Blue Eyes grabbed a hold of the human's hand and threw him down on top of the other one as well. Before the third one could react, Blue Eye stood tall and screamed at him, causing the man to backed down.

"Hey! I'll kill you!" the man behind Blue Eyes shouted as he pointed something right at his face.

The moment the human had pointed the object at his son, Caesar's protective instincts immediately fired off. Running on over, he took a hold of the man's hands and then punched him onto the ground. Anger clouding his vision that someone had threatened his family, Caesar raised the object high above him and was about to bring it down when Malcolm's voice called out to him.

"Don't! Don't! Caesar, no!" Malcolm had begged.

Glaring down at the feeble human and panting hard, Caesar slowly let his eyes wander back up to the object in his hand, turning it over several times, making sure that it was what he had thought it was.

"Said no guns," he grounded out, pointing the end of the barrel at the humans, seeing them recoil in fear.

Making his way closer towards the edge of the water, Caesar pointed the gun at all the humans in case they made a move towards him, his children or any of his fellow apes. Lastly Caesar turned his attention towards Malcolm one more time. He had trusted the human that stood in front of him but he should have known that humans could never be trusted. With a grunt, he then tossed the offending weapon far into the air straight into the river behind him. Hearing the resounding splash, Caesar then turned back around and glared accusingly at Malcolm.

"I didn't know," the man breathed.

"Humans! Leave! Now!" Caesar bellowed at Malcolm's as he picked up Cornelius and walked away.

Glaring around at the humans Blue Eyes waited for them to do something or anything to provoke them. After a few moments and the humans still stood still did Blue Eyes allow himself to follow his father.

…

The ride back towards their home was a silent one with none of the apes signing nor speaking with each other. The humans had their chance to set themselves right but as Caesar could tell, they couldn't be trusted, no matter what they promised. __They never change.__ Caesar thought to himself frustratingly as he rode into the open grounds of their home. Getting off of his horse he was then greeted by a frantic chimpanzee, Sparrow, whom landed upon one of the stone plateaus and called out for him. His face scrunched up in confusion and then worry as he saw the female ape's hand signs.

Not a moment too soon did Caesar then scale up the spiraling wooden steps towards their tree home. Blue Eyes, noticing his father leaving quickly, followed after, wondering what was wrong. As soon as both Caesar and Blue Eyes rounded the corner with Cornelius in his arms did the father and sons were greeted with the sight of the midwives huddled around a wheezing Cornelia. Approaching the females slowly Caesar held his breath while Tinker had noticed them.

" _ _Caesar? Blue Eyes? Come!__ " she gestured worriedly to the two males.

Slowly approaching, Caesar knelt down beside the cot and placed a gently hand upon Cornelia's head.

"Cornelia?" he whispered, voice full of emotion as his vision started to go blurry at the sight of his mate.

Caesar could only watch as Cornelia closed her eyes and trembled as her sickness got worse. Caesar looked up and watched as Blue Eyes, with Cornelius in his arms, sat behind their mother. The young chimp then reached out and stroke the fur on his mother's arm, hoping that that gesture would relax her. Blue Eyes then had looked up towards him, hoping that he would know some way of curing Cornelia. Not having an answer for his eldest, Caesar resorted to going back to stroking Cornelia's face with a finger as emotions wracked him from the inside. As Caesar tried to comfort his ill mate and mother of their children a commotion could be heard behind him, causing him to take I a deep breath to compose himself, nor lashing out at whomever had come in to disturb them.

"I'm sorry. That was all my fault. But I will make him leave-" Malcolm's voice could be heard from behind.

"This! My home. You should not be here!" Caesar grounded out, still not turning to face the human.

"I understand," Malcolm replied, disappointment laced within his voice.

There was a pause as Caesar could hear the two humans talked among themselves.

"She's sick," the man had said aloud.

Annoyed by the fact that the humans were not abiding by his wishes he was about to turn around and tell them to leave when the human female, the one he's heard called Ellie, suddenly spoke up in a soft voice.

"How long has she been this way?" Ellie had asked, causing Caesar to turned slowly towards her with red puffy eyes.

As Caesar stared at the human woman she had a soft worried look upon her features, as she glanced at Cornelia and then back at him.

"I have medicine. Antibiotics," she pleaded, placing a hand over her heart.

"Maybe she could help," Malcolm spoke up just as quietly causing Caesar to look at him.

"Do not. Trust you," Caesar responded his mind clashing with itself before he glanced down at his ill mate again.

"I don't blame you. But please believe me. We are not like him… Please," Malcolm pleaded.

"Let us help you… Let us help her," Ellie chimed in.

Quietly Caesar debated with himself if he should allow the humans to stay as he stared down at his family. Blue Eyes had his hand upon Cornelia's arm still as if he were offering his strength to her to help her cope with the illness. Cornelius could only stare at everyone with wide green eyes, not knowing what was going on. While he himself was having trouble trusting these humans… Maybe… just maybe these two humans could be different. Maybe they could remedy this situation since he did not know what else to do. Sitting up straight, Caesar stepped aside slowly and kept his eyes upon the human woman waiting for her to come assist his Cornelia while a single tear slowly ran down the side of his cheek. Tentatively Ellie approached them and knelt down beside both Caesar and Cornelia as she started to pull out various things from her bag.

"One day…" Caesar offered in a low voice, "you stay one day."

" _ _Father, no…!__ " Blue Eyes signed worriedly.

"We might need more time-"

"One day!" Caesar shouted, silencing Malcolm as he glared at the man. "Apes will help…" he finally finished as turned towards his eldest son, gaining a scowl from the young chimp.

" _ _I will not help,__ " Blue Eyes defiantly signed towards his father, utterly displeased by the older ape's decision.

Caesar only watched as Blue Eyes had not agree with him yet again with what he had chose.

Sensing the tension between both father and son, Tinker lightly tapped Blue Eyes' shoulder.

" _ _Blue Eyes, let me take care of your brother,__ " she offered to which the young prince hesitated for a moment before finally relenting his younger sibling to the more experienced female.

Accepting the child, Tinker held Cornelius close to her bosom as if he were her own before turning towards Caesar.

" _ _While Cornelia is being taken care of by the humans, Cornelius will be staying with me for the time being,__ " she offered.

" _ _Thank you,__ " Caesar thanked his good friend to which Tinker merely nodded before taking her leave.

…

Watching his father, uncles, friends and the rest of the apes as well as the humans taking their leave from the safety of their home, Blue Eyes defiantly sat down by one of the bonfires. As he watched them all go, Blue Eyes had caught Ash solemnly looking at him with a forlorn expression. Blue Eyes on the other hand glared back at his friend and brother.

" _ _Go on! Go with them! Leave!__ " Blue Eyes signed angrily at the other chimpanzee.

Blue Eyes could see his friend flinch at his furious gestures but did not care at the moment. How could his father trust the humans so quickly like that? They had broken their promise and had almost killed him yet his father was still allowing them to to do their work? Just because the humans thought that they could help his mother? What could they do? They bring nothing but pain. Not was he only mad at his Father and the humans, Ash was abandoning him as well, siding with his father and all that. Some great friend he is.

Before Ash finally left he gave Blue Eyes one last look before exiting the colony gates, finally leaving the sky eyed chimp all alone with the children, females, and few Gorilla Guards. Fuming with anger, Blue Eyes reached out and took one of the long wooden poles and decided to fashion himself a spear in the meantime while he was there. Growling to himself the did not hear the soft approach of footsteps that closed in on him. Hearing a small hoot, Blue Eyes' head shot up and glared at whomever had disturbed his peace. Standing there just a few feet away from him was Lake, her evergreen glowing eyes staring back at him with worry.

" _ _What is it?__ " he snapped at the female who backed slightly at the sudden outburst.

Glaring at Lake, Blue Eyes observed as the female chimpanzee closing her eyes, took in a deep breath before approaching him once more. Once she was just a few feet away from him, she silently sat down and stared straight into his eyes, her challenging.

" _ _What has gotten into you?__ " she asked.

" _ _I don't know what you are talking about,__ " Blue Eyes replied, his gaze narrowing at the female that sat beside him.

" _ _You are scaring the little ones, Blue Eyes. You are usually not like this,__ " Lake accused.

At this Blue Eyes didn't have an answer for Lake, instead he glanced away from her and resumed working on the spear. She was right about him, he had been acting out of normal but that wasn't his fault was it? With the recent ongoings around him he did not know how to answer her. There was so many things within him that he was just… So mad about. His failed hunt where he got attacked by that bear, Ash getting wounded by that human, his father allowing the humans into their territory, his younger brother being attacked by said humans and now his mother was very ill, and finally Ash had abandoned him to side with his father. So he couldn't help being irked and livid at the moment, feeling betrayed by his family and friends.

Blue Eyes also hated that he could never live up to the expectations of his father, except being a mere shadow of what the king is. What could he do to even be on the same level as his father? The great Caesar? Other apes were free to live out their lives as they please but not him, he was expected to walk in the same footsteps as his father. He didn't even want to lead their people but yet here he was the king's eldest son and heir to the colony. Lake would never understand any of the feelings he's going through and probably never will. That was why he was mostly angry at everything, he realized that he would never get the freedom that many of the other apes his age would have.

The two young chimpanzees sat quietly with each other for a long while. The sounds of little apes playing around them and crackle of the bonfire to fill in the silence between the two. Feeling a soft hand upon his shoulder, Blue Eyes turned his attention towards Lake whom seemed to be giving him a remorseful look.

" _ _I know you have been going through a lot recently and I do not know what most of them are but I wanted you to know that I am here for you. Not just me but your uncles, friends and father. Do not let this anger take control of your actions Blue Eyes. I just want you to know that,__ " Lake explained with a gentle smile upon her features.

Blue Eyes stared into Lake's serene glowing eyes for a long while before he heaved out a tired breath and slowly nodded at her, feeling suddenly a little bit better. Satisfied with his answer, Lake offered Blue Eyes and warm smile and gave him a quick hug before she stood up and quietly left him to work on his weapon. Watching the female go, Blue Eyes was quite confused as to why out of everyone Lake had come on over to comfort him. Thinking upon Lake's words Blue Eyes mentally shook his head and went back to making his spear.

A while later Blue Eyes was on his second spear when he heard horses entering through the gates. Looking up from his weapon the young prince noticed his uncle Koba as he the scarred bonobo quickly got over his horse, looked around and spotted him by the bonfire.

" _ _Just came from the human city. Humans very dangerous! Where is Caesar?__ " the bonobo asked frantically as he bounded over to where the young prince sat.

" _ _With the humans,__ " Blue Eyes slowly signed back to his uncle, a frown set upon his lips, noticing the scarred bonobo's shoulder dip a little.

* * *

 **Hello everyone! Here is chapter 5. For some reason I was not quite satisfied with this chapter but hope you all enjoy it nonetheless.**

 **Now introducing...**

 **Lake, who is making a cameo from the WFTPOTA movie and Revelations book.**

 **Thank you all for reading and if you enjoy my story please leave a comment as they give me quite the inspiration to keep on writing for you all. Thanks again!**


	6. Chapter 6

Entering the man made structure, Koba's eyes widened as he noticed his fellow ape brothers picking up pieces of debris and slowly hauled it out towards the exit. Upon noticing him, Blue Eyes, Grey Stone and Pope a few of them had stopped momentarily to say their greetings. Grunting back in acknowledgment, Koba moved steadily forward. He may be blind in one eye but even he could see that now their people were becoming slaves to the humans. They've got their greedy fingers wrapped around Caesar and the rest of the apes which infuriated his very being. Why would Caesar do this? It didn't make any sense.

Suddenly Pope bounded towards the front of the group, turned and faced all of them, halting their advance.

" _ _Apes are now slaves to humans,__ " Pope grunted to the others and signing at them.

The four of them stared at Pope to which the scarred chimpanzee grinned and scratched at his neck before continuing.

" _ _Seems like Caesar still love the humans. Much more than apes… More than any of you,__ " Pope gestured finally staring directly at Blue Eyes and Koba.

At this Koba had enough of the scarred chimpanzee and suddenly took a hold of Pope, slamming the surprised ape into the metal bars behind him, holding him there. With a pained grunt, Pope stared wide eyed at such ferocity from the bonobo whom was glaring at him panting slightly. Letting out a huff at what just happened, Pope glanced around at the others before staring back down into Koba's good eye again. Unexpectedly Pope had then let out a series of panting laughter, confusing Koba and the three other apes for a moment before the scarred chimpanzee suddenly grabbed onto the fellow scarred bonobo and brought him in close, staring him dead in the eyes.

"Yes! Be mad! Be angry! But not at me," Pope hissed, letting his dark green eyes fall onto every ape that was looking at him. "I did. Not do this. I did. Not let. Humans stay. I tried to warn. That humans. Were dangerous. That Caesar would doom us all. Put us apes back in human cage. This is all his fault," Pope spoke quietly before letting go of Koba.

Koba stared at Pope for a long while before he let go of the scarred chimpanzee's scruff with a snarl and quickly stomped away. Smoothing out his hair where it was mangled, Pope watched as Blue Eyes, Grey and Stone silently turned their gazes away form him and followed Koba deeper into the man made structure. Satisfied that he had hit the mark, Pope took in a deep breath and silently trailed behind the others. Although as he followed something dark was brimming within the chimpanzee as he stared at Koba's backside.

Fuming with anger at what Pope had said Koba couldn't believe it the chimpanzee was right. Everything he said had come true, the humans in the city were preparing their weapons and now Caesar was helping the humans gain power as well. They were all going to die with Caesar's misguidance. It had hurt him and he didn't really want to but he must stop Caesar somehow, someway, but how? As he thought it over Koba finally entered the open area where the human had first brought them. Peering down below he could see his fellow apes working away while the humans ran amok while discussing about things he did not care for.

Watching the scene below him Koba turned towards his right and saw Pope peering down at the apes below too before the scarred chimpanzee curved his head to stare directly at him. The two locked gazes for a moment Koba blinked once, forcing his gaze away and grabbed onto the railings tightly with his hands. After a few seconds, Koba then grunted as he leaped onto a pipe, slid down it and landed with a thud onto the floor below. Slowly getting up Koba glanced around and noticed one of the chimpanzees walking towards him while dragging a pipe of some sort.

"Caesar." Koba asked the chimp whom looked around slowly before the ape pointed towards the door.

Following the other apes direction, Koba stalked his way towards the entrance before he was rudely blocked by the young human. Annoyance and anger flaring from within him, he took a hold of the human boy and threw him onto the ground.

"Hey!" The boy cried out.

Noticing with horror Malcolm's eyes widen as he noticed the one eyed bonobo had stopped in his tracks and turned around towards Alexander, stalking towards the boy. If there's anything he knew, he knew that body language that the bonobo was exhibiting. He quickly bounded on over and slid in between both his kid and the furious ape.

"Wait please! No!" Malcolm pleaded as he put his hand out to hopefully stop the ape.

Whatever Malcolm had tried to do, did not seem to work as the ape kept on advancing. Maybe this was it. This was probably how he was going to die. Then something unexpected happened. A mountain of orange fur suddenly stood between him and the crazed looking bonobo. After noticing what it was, Malcolm had let out a a weary breath, now knowing that it was the orangutan whom was curiously watching them earlier.

Surprised by Maurice, Koba had stopped his advancement and looked up at the orangutan whom seem to be staring back at him with determined but challenging eyes. __You too?__ Koba thought for a moment before his face turned into a scowl at the bigger ape.

"Caesar. Where Caesar? Want Caesar. Caesar!" Koba roared aloud, causing everyone within the room to stop what they were doing and stare at the furious ape.

There was a momentary silence that hung within the air before soft footsteps could be heard. Emerging from one side of the entrances, Caesar stared at Koba whilst the bonobo glared back at him.

"You make apes serve human?" Koba started as he glared up at Caesar. "Human's attack your sons! You let them stay? Put apes in danger!" the scarred bonobo continued as he advanced upon his king and friend. "Caesar love humans… More than apes! More than your sons!" Koba finally accused, standing in front of the chimpanzee and jabbing a finger into his chest.

Caesar's gaze widen momentarily when Koba had finally said those words to him, his green and gold speckled eyes darting from the bonobo to his son whom was watching the whole thing. Staring back into Koba's eyes, Caesar slowly narrowed his. How dare he... How dare Koba accuse him of allowing their apes to serve the humans like slaves. How dare Koba accuse him of loving the humans more than the apes. How dare Koba accuse him of loving the humans more than his own sons. Koba didn't even know what had happened all day. For all he knew, Koba was still just throwing out his tirade because due to his hatred of the humans but for the bonobo to accuse Caesar of such things was taking it much too far. He needed to be put in his place.

With a primal scream Caesar had launched himself at Koba, knocking the bonobo off of his feet and rolling onto the steel grill floor beneath them. All the apes watched and hooted aloud in alarm as the the chimpanzee king and scarred bonobo fought each other brutally as they swung heavy fists at one another. For a split second, Caesar had gained a momentary advantage as he stood up and started to slam his fists upon the bonobo's body beneath him. With each blow from Caesar's fists the sounds of pounding flesh could be heard reverberating against the stone walls all around them. Caesar then reached down and started to choke the bonobo and slammed the ape's head repeatedly onto the ground as if he wanted to kill him.

It was after a few seconds did Caesar blinked once and through his anger induced haze did he see Koba's fearful face staring back at him, the choking ape's hands upon his. Slowly releasing his grip upon Koba's neck, Caesar realized what he had almost done and was deeply ashamed of it. Staring down at the injured ape beneath him Caesar closed his eyes tightly before opening them back up again.

"Ape… Not… Kill… Ape." Caesar huffed the sacred law aloud as Koba laid there beneath him, still trying to catch his breath.

With his vision clearing with the addition of oxygen finding their way into his lungs again, Koba watched as Caesar slowly stood up while he laid there. Breathing haggardly, Koba then turned his head towards the side and could see several of the apes staring in shock. When he made eye contact with them though they quickly turned his heads away from him. Feeling humiliated by this he then turned his gaze up to where both Grey and Stone stood and they too averted their gaze when he looked at them. There was one ape however who did not avoid him and that ape was Pope, whom stared straight at him with a stern look upon his features, as if telling him that he was right about Caesar.

After catching his breath, Koba swallowed his spittle and blood that had accumulated within his jaws and got up onto his two feet. He then looked past Caesar at the humans whom were all staring at him, their faces riddled with shock and pity… Knowing what he had to do in this situation, Koba slowly kneeled, and raised a supplicating palm up towards his… Friend…? No… Not friend. Not anymore... Thinking this all the while keeping his head low so that Caesar could not see his burning hate that formed on his face.

"Forgive me." Koba said simply as he waited for Caesar.

Caesar looked down at the other bonobo and then up around him, seeing the curious gaze from his people. Oh what had he done? In their fight, Caesar had released all his pent up anger at the scarred bonobo, falsely blaming the other ape for the stress and hardships that he had been enduring. The anger of the peace between humans and apes failing, the anger of Koba not letting go of his hatred of the humans and leaving them that morning, the anger of Blue Eyes' defiance towards him and lastly the anger and sadness at the thought of not being able to do anything for his sick Cornelia. All came crashing down relentlessly upon the bonobo during their brawl. And with that Caesar was horrified to find out that he was very close to killing his good friend.

Koba had known that Caesar was going to make him wait for his forgiveness but wait he shall for both Caesar's acceptance and to an extent his undying revenge. Because now he knows that Caesar was truly weak, blinded by his love for the humans, just as Pope had told him many a times. Only he can protect the apes now. Even if he had to…

Feeling Caesar's finger tips barely touching his open palm did Koba drop his hand immediately and walked away while covering his beaten and battered wounds.

Caesar had wanted to call out to Koba, had wanted to apologize to the bonobo for doing what he did to him. No matter how much he wanted to though he had to remain stoic and resolved in front of the other apes to show that he should not be trifled with. Sometimes being a leader he had to make certain sacrifices in order to keep them all safe but at what cost? He watched with a certain helplessness to him as Koba soon disappeared through the doors upstairs. Letting his gaze fall back down, Caesar then noticed Blue Eyes staring at him with a look of disdain within his eyes. What had he done indeed.

…

Back at the top of the dam by the secluded river Koba slowly made his way towards the water's edge. Making sure that he was not followed the bonobo slowly dipped his hands into the cool waters below and began to clean himself up. He hissed as he splashed the clear liquid onto his wounds, causing them to sting. Exhaling out a tired breath he then looked down at the water's surface, seeing the ugly face of his reflection staring back at him.

As he stared at his reflection, Koba then noticed small ripples were made upon the surface of the water, distorting his image. Blinking several time Koba glanced at his image once more and was quite surprised to see his image shedding tears, his tears. Reaching up slowly, Koba touched the side of his cheek and he could now feel the warm trails of his tears that cascaded down the sides of his face to the waters below. Sure his wounds stung, he was used to that, but they could never accumulate to this none physical pain that he was feeling. He could not explain this strange sensation, it was as if his heart hurt but then again it wasn't, not physically at least. This sudden spur of emotion caused his eyes to leak more tears, caused his body to tremble and to suddenly fall onto his knees by the riverside.

Trembling Koba couldn't help but let himself cry aloud as he held his body with one arm and head with the other, like an infant if it were wounded too badly or had lost something dear to it and he was feeling pretty much like the latter. With tears flowing down his face like a torrent of water, Koba heaved aloud as his body shook. Memories of his past suddenly slammed into him. Terrible memories that reminded him of what he was and what made him. Images of his mother getting beaten by their caretaker as she protected him. Images of him getting whipped because he failed to do a trick. Images of syringes being stuck into his skin, causing him to vomit violently and now images of Caesar raising his fists and then bringing them down upon him like some kind of animal. All of these feelings were storming within Koba's mind, so painful that he wanted to do anything to get rid of them.

After a while Koba tears had dried out and his body had stopped heaving, leaving the bonobo vastly tired at the ordeal. As his eyes cleared up, Koba soon was staring back at his own reflection again. Staring at his image and seeing the scars that reminded him of his past, Koba suddenly let out a snarl and he raised his fist, bringing it down upon the water's surface with a loud splash.

"Caesar will pay!" he hissed to no one in particular.

"And he will," someone answered the scarred bonobo, causing the ape to snarl as he turned around to face whomever had snuck up on him.

Standing just a few feet behind Koba stood Pope whom was staring at him with indifferent eyes. The scarred chimpanzee approached the bonobo, noticing the other ape back away slightly from him.

" _ _I won't hurt you… I promise,__ " Pope gestured as he slowly advanced upon Koba, noticing the bonobo's hesitation.

Once he was in front of the defeated bonobo Pope reached out, took a hold of Koba's head and placed their foreheads upon one another.

"I am friend Koba. Always have." Pope breathed quietly.

The two stood like that for a long while before the scarred chimpanzee lifted his head away from the still shaking bonobo and smiled down at him. Koba merely glanced up at Pope and before directing his gaze down to the side.

" _ _You were right. Caesar is weak and is putting the apes' lives in danger,__ " Koba signed at Pope, swiveling his sight back up at the scarred chimpanzee whom smiled at him.

" _ _Then it is up to us to stop him and destroy the humans,__ " Pope simply answered.

At this Koba closed his eyes for a moment and nodded, agreeing with Pope.

"Trust?" Pope spoke aloud as he extended an arm towards Koba.

At this gesture Koba's eyes glanced down at Pope's extended arm, like Caesar had did to him before they all went into the humans city to announce their separation of each other. Before Caesar had lied to him and attacked him.

"Trust," Koba repeated as he took a hold of Pope's arm.

" _ _Good, now I have a plan,__ " Pope signed to the scarred bonobo after they shook hands.

…

Later that evening Koba was sitting by himself, far from everyone else as the colony had gathered together to have their evening meal. Chewing his food slowly, Koba then perked up when he noticed two figures taking seats and each of his respective sides. Looking to his left and right the scarred bonobo noticed that it was two of his friends, Grey and Stone, who had took their seat next to him. They didn't say nor sign anything to him, but they didn't need to, he knew that they had come on over to support him, even if he's been shamed and for that he was grateful for.

Blue Eyes stared at his uncle from afar and could feel eyes at his back. Slowly pivoting his body around he could then see his father giving him a stern look. The father and son duo stared at one another, anger and resentment filling the void between them.

" _ _You are my son. I need you to listen,__ " Caesar tried to speak to Blue Eyes, only to have the young chimpanzee aggressively toss his plate to the ground and stomp away.

Ash could see Blue Eyes defiantly ignoring his father from afar yet once again and couldn't help but feel bad for his uncle Caesar. Ash then watched as his friend stomped on over to one of the lower bonfires, causing some of the apes to scurry away at his wake. Frowning, Ash set his plate down and soon leaped off from the ledge where his family was at and bounded on over to where Blue Eyes was.

Blue Eyes was fuming with anger at his father. Always "listen to this" or "listen to that" never ever owning up to his actions. Why did he strike down his uncle like that? Was it because he was right? It must have been… While still thinking about what happened earlier Blue Eyes pulled his knees closer towards him as he remembered the look on his father. He had never seen his father look like that before, always stern and collected but never ever wild and deranged as to what he had witnessed earlier and to be honest it sort of scared him a little. Hearing something landing besides him, disrupting his thoughts, Blue Eyes glanced up and was surprised to see Ash standing there.

" _ _What do you want? Come here to tell me that I should listen to my father?__ " Blue Eyes signed at the other chimp.

Instead of getting an answer from Ash, Blue Eyes watched as the chimpanzee simply walked on over and sat down next to him, turning to face the bonfire. At this Blue Eyes scowled and looked away and fumed silently to himself. Eventually for some reason with Ash's presence there by his side he had slowly calmed down, enough to cause him to turn back towards his friend and see the other ape's smiling face. Seeing Ash's happy grin caused a smile to slowly form on his face as well.

" _ _I'm sorry Ash,__ " Blue Eyes gestured.

" _ _It is okay, I understand,__ " Ash had responded.

Blue Eyes was indeed glad that they had both reconciled even though he was the cause of it, and was extremely happy that Ash still stood by him and was there for him just when he needed it. He couldn't imagine what he would do if he were to lose his best friend.

Watching the young prince now bantering with Ash from afar at the bottom bonfire, Koba noticed Grey keeping his hand low and signing at him.

" _ _You didn't tell Caesar about the guns we found?__ " the brown haired chimpanzee asked.

At this, Koba's gaze darted around until he found Pope sitting by a ledge not too far from them with two gorillas by his side. As they made eye contact the scarred chimpanzee merely shook his head slowly from side to side before he went back to finish his meal. Lowering his gaze for a moment, Koba slowly turned back to look at Grey.

" _ _Neither will you,__ " Koba finally signed, placing a knuckle upon the other chimp's chest before letting his hand fall back down.

Unbeknownst to the scarred bonobo both Grey and Stone exchanged a silent glance at one another before they too proceeded to go back and eat quietly.

Much later into the evening where many of the apes had already gone off to retire for the night, Blue Eyes bid Ash a farewell, watching the chimpanzee scurry off towards his own home tree with his mother and father. Sitting back down in front of the bonfire by himself, Blue Eyes stared into the flickering flames until he heard soft footsteps towards his side. Looking up he then saw his uncle Koba standing there the older ape looking as if he were hesitant to approach him. Giving no signs of animosity, Blue Eyes glanced back at the fire while the scarred bonobo took a seat next to him.

" _ _Your father doesn't trust me now... You need to protect him Blue Eyes. His love for the humans. Makes him blind,__ " Koba signed at Blue Eyes whom nodded at him.

" _ _I know,__ " the young sky eyed ape signed back.

" _ _As long as the humans are here… I fear for… Caesar's life. And all of ours,__ " Koba finished, turning to stare into the young princes' trusting eyes.

From afar, hidden in the darkness a scarred chimpanzee was observing the two apes signing to each other by the bonfire. Everything was going according to plan. If they could get Blue Eyes to be on their side then they will have nearly everything they needed in order to topple Caesar from his throne. Silently chuckling to himself, Pope turned back around and gazed up at the two gorillas that stood behind him.

" _ _You sure this work?__ " Red signed at the scarred chimpanzee, still not sure about this elaborate idea to destroy Caesar and his rule.

" _ _This will work. You will see,__ " Pope answered back, " _ _besides, you were not there by the human dam. Caesar is already losing himself and the apes. All thanks to that stupid ape over there,__ " Pope gestured as he pointed at Koba and Blue Eyes.

" _ _I thought you said that he was ally,__ " Rex signed at Pope whom narrowed his eyes at the scarred bonobo.

Pope remembered well the incident at the dam when Koba had slammed him into the pipes. The ape had dared to lay a hand upon him and that had made the bonobo his enemy.

"No… not ally. Not anymore," Pope seethed before turning around and leaving the two gorillas for the rest of the night.

* * *

 **And " _That's the way the cookie crumbles_ " in the way of Koba trying to get Caesar to go against the humans one more time and it backfired miserably.**

 **What do you all think? Good? Bad? Did Koba go too far with the accusations?** ** **Was what Caesar did to Koba justifiable?** Did it warm your hearts when both Blue Eyes and Ash rekindled their friendship? Hate Pope yet? XD.**

 **Anyways if you've enjoyed my story so far, please leave a comment. I love reading all your thoughts and they are also the source of my drive to keep on writing. In the meantime thanks for reading and I'll hopefully post the next chapter soon.**


	7. Chapter 7

Early the next day, Maurice was ambling slowly by on the forest floor while the apes from the colony had gone back help the humans. As he lumbered on, deep in thought, pondering on the events that had occurred yesterday, Maurice couldn't help but wonder about the well beings of his friends and their time with the humans. Koba had disappeared that very morning, running off in a angry huff. The humans had threatened Blue Eyes with a gun to which Caesar had quickly shut down. Cornelia had gotten very ill with no signs of recovering from it and was helped by the human female, hopefully. Then there was the fight with Koba which Maurice was not happy about but understood well, that the situation needed to be dealt with. Again Maurice himself didn't understand why Koba would not just let go of his past grudges. Maybe the bonobo was indeed twisted too much during his time with the humans but he should at least allow his fellow apes to help him cope with it, for it is not healthy to keep such feelings inside oneself all the time Maurice pondered.

Occupied with his thoughts, Maurice perked up when he heard a small hoot and let his gaze wander up towards the trees above. There up in the canopy, Maurice was greeted by a orangutan, not much younger than both Blue Eyes and Ash, who slowly climbed down towards him.

" _ _Good morning teacher Maurice,__ " the young orangutan signed respectfully once his feet touched the ground and was able to use his hands.

" _ _Good morning Ray, how are you and your father today?__ " Maurice greeted in kind.

" _ _Father is doing well. He is out with the other apes at the machine by the water, waiting for us to get the humans,__ " Ray signed back with a wide grin on his face to which Maurice nodded back slowly.

With that the two orangutans continued their talk as they traversed the forest floor slowly and quietly. As soon as they rounded one giant particular tree Maurice had stopped and stared, prompting Ray to do the same. Sitting by the edge of one of the open tents was the human boy, whose face lit up at the sight of them. Cautiously the human teen stood up and walked on over to the two and stopped right in front of them with something held in his hands.

"I… I think you were watching me read this yesterday… at the dam. Do you want to read it? O-oh, and your friend there too," the boy said aloud.

Maurice merely tilted his head while Ray stared at the boy with wonder in his eyes as he's never been this close one of the humans before. Looking from one to the other the human boy then gave Maurice the comic book and took a seat right next to him, whilst Ray merely leaned over from the bigger orangutan's side to peer at the object that had words and pictures in them.

…

Hearing Alexander speaking aloud, Malcolm slowly rose up from his sleeping bag and peered outside, surprised at what he saw in front of him.

"Hey Ellie, wake up!" Malcolm said softly as he grabbed onto Ellie's shoulder and shook her lightly.

"What is it?" Ellie asked with a groan to which Malcolm tilted his head out of the tent.

Following his gaze, Ellie was awed by the scene that was in front of her. Sitting there just a few feet away was Alexander and a couple of orangutans. The young boy seemed to be pointing to a page in his comic book held by the bigger ape and was reading aloud to them. While the smaller ape peered in from the side, copying Alexander's hand gestures to signifying that they were hanging off of something as portrayed within the comic.

"Now ain't that a peculiar sight?" Malcolm spoke quietly, still watching Alexander and the two orangutans.

"Nothing peculiar about it at all, just looks like a fifteen year old boy teaching two orangutans how to read a comic book, to me," Ellie responded as she leaned her back into Malcolm, joining him in a small bout of laughter as they continued to watch the beautiful scene unfolding in front of them.

Soon enough Malcolm emerged from the opposite end of the tent and stood a little bit away from Alexander and the orangutans. Hearing horse hooves approaching Malcolm turned around and saw Caesar slowly approaching him. With a smile, Malcolm approached the chimpanzee leader.

"We should be done today, thanks to you and your people," Malcolm thanked the chimpanzee whom nodded at him before looking away.

Malcolm watched as Caesar seemed to be keeping his eyes upon his apes as they helped the other humans gathered things that were needed for today's job.

"I… just wanted to say…" Malcolm spoke up again, gaining Caesar's attention. "That once we get back. I'm going to let everyone there know of what you and your people did to help us," he continued, looking into Caesar's eyes, meaning every word of it.

"Trust," Caesar said simply, frowning slightly as a thought of telling Koba the exact same thing a while ago crossed his mind before he quickly pushed it aside, face going stoic once more.

At Caesar's word, Malcolm nodded and couldn't help but smile up at the ape leader who continued to looked down at him up on the horse with a stern expression. Maybe, just possibly things could work out between them, after all this is over and both apes and humans alike could live in harmony. Letting his gaze go back to Alexander and the two orangutans a curious thought suddenly came to mind and he turned back to look up at Caesar.

"Caesar, If you don't mind me asking… what are their names?" Malcolm asked as he indicated with a head nod towards the two orangutans, with Caesar's gaze following in the direction.

"Maurice. Good friend and very smart," Caesar answered, indicating to the larger orangutan before nodding once at the smaller one, "Ray. Bright student and good ape," he told Malcolm.

"And what about the two that saved us from the tunnels the other day? The uh…" Malcolm started, remembering the nearly hairless chimpanzee whom was accompanied by a younger one as well.

Looking back up at Caesar, Malcolm then crossed his middle and index finger into the American alphabet sign for "R" and tapping it over his chest, right over his heart.

"The big one did this," Malcolm explained, still doing the gesture, to which Caesar couldn't help but let out a small grunt, a smile upon his lips before looking away.

"That is Rocket. Very strong ape warrior and also good friend. Younger one is his son, Ash," Caesar informed Malcolm.

"Ah… Oh… And what about your son? What is his name?" Malcolm continued.

"Blue Eyes." Caesar said simply in a certain proud fatherly tone to which it did not go unnoticed by Malcolm.

"And the smaller one? And your… Wife? Lady…? Partner?" Malcolm inquired not sure on how to word it.

"Baby's name is Cornelius. His mother, Cornelia," Caesar answered, his voice laced with nothing but fondness and love when he spoke of their names.

 _ _Don't really talk a lot huh?__ Malcolm thought to himself about Caesar but when he had asked about the chimpanzee's family he could see the warmth, pride, love and joy in the ape leader's eyes hiding underneath that stern front that he exhibits all the time. __He really does love his family and apes…__ Malcolm continued to think to himself before another question hit him.

"Oh? And what about… The one with the scars and bad eye? Sorry there's nothing else I can describe him as," Malcolm asked one last time, noticing Caesar's features grim before the ape slowly turned his head back around to face him from the top of his horse.

"That one Koba. You and other humans stay away from him. He not friend to humans," Caesar warned Malcolm.

Caesar then turned his gaze slowly away from the human again as he thought about the bonobo. He had seen Koba earlier that morning, sitting by himself far off to the side of the colony, slowly sharpening his spear in silence. The two had made brief eye contact, his searching while Koba's was indifferent. Then as if it had never happened, Koba blinked and then went back to sharpening his spear while Caesar breathed out a sigh before making his way on over towards the horses. He'll need to go an reconcile with the bonobo later, for now he and the other apes needed to help the humans with getting power back to their city.

"Yeah, you don't have to tell me twice," Malcolm agreed, already seeing first hand the scarred ape's opinions about them.

Malcolm had wanted to inquired more details about the scarred ape but stopped himself, noticing Caesar was oddly quiet for the moment, as if something was troubling him. Hoping to change the mood, Malcolm suddenly spoke up to the ape leader, informing Caesar of his friends and family. Since Caesar had been so openly willing to inform him of his people, Malcolm that it was only fair that he returned and told the ape about his own. Thankfully by telling Caesar about Alexander, Ellie, Foster, Kempt and unfortunately Carver, it seemed to have distracted the chimpanzee from his troubling thoughts. __Maybe they could have a chance after all__ , Malcolm thought to himself happily while still explaining to Caesar who did what and what their roles were. Maybe with just this, they can have peace.

…

As soon as most of the apes had left along with Caesar and the others, Koba was soon approached by Pope. Glancing up from making his spear the two scarred apes stared at each other.

" _ _You ready to go?__ " Pope asked.

Setting his spear aside, Koba closed his eyes for a moment before rising to his feet.

"Yes," he breathed.

" _ _Then we go now,__ " Pope gestured.

…

It had taken them a while but Koba, Pope, Stone and Grey made their way back to the weapons storage house within the human city. Landing quickly upon a rooftop Pope peered down at the humans that still scuttled around before eyeing the their targeted building just a few jumps away.

" _ _You can do this?__ " Pope asked turning to face Koba, whom grunted in response and nodded once. " _ _Then Stone, Grey and I will stay behind before going in while you take care of the humans,__ " Pope finished looking at the other two chimpanzees for confirmation to which they too nodded once in response.

With his plans about exposing the humans to apes set in motion, Pope turned back and eyed the weapon warehouse.

…

Terry and McVeigh had spent the morning testing the warehouse's storage of guns upon an old vehicle to test what was still working and what did not. By this time the two friends had agreed that it was just about lunchtime and set their guns down beside them. McVeigh himself had taken out a piece of small smoked meat and cured cheese to munch on while Terry had suddenly produced a bottle of whiskey, smiling all the while.

"What are you doing?" McVeigh asked incredulously.

"What? I'd thought that you know. It's been a while and maybe we can have ourselves a drink," Terry answered, popping the cork that held the liquid inside.

McVeigh thought it over for a moment and decided, __heck why not?__ It had been months since they've last had a drink together. Alcohol was hard to come by these days but when they've found a bottle or two they would try their hardest to preserve it and drink it only on the most special of occasions and today felt like one of those special days. Taking the bottle, McVeigh poured himself a small cup whilst Terry did the same before tapping the rim of their cups together and took a nice drink from it.

The two friends spent some time eating at their food, drinking some more, followed by the complaints that they weren't even done going through have the storage yet. However the two did know that they've checked enough working guns to give every man, woman and child a firearm within the colony, so there's that at least. While enjoying the others person's company both McVeigh and Terry stiffened up when they saw a familiar figure approaching them.

"Is that the…" McVeigh started, squinting his eyes a little at the figure.

"Holy shit! It's that one monkey!" Terry whispered.

The ape was now standing on two legs and was enthusiastically approaching the two humans, a smile upon his face, hooting and waiving his hand at them as if they were long lost friends.

"Hey! What they hell's wrong with you! I thought we told you to go home!" Terry yelled at the ape.

"No! No! Go!" McVeigh chastised the approaching ape while pointing a finger at him.

Terry glanced at his friend for a moment before he rolled his eyes and took the gun next to him and pointed it at the ape, who stopped and raised his arms up in air.

"Ah ha! You understood that didn't ya?" Terry mused while McVeigh couldn't help but chuckle.

The scarred ape then did a series of rolls towards the two causing them to back up slightly into the sandbags that they were laying on.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hey!" Terry said aloud, still pointing the gun at the ape whom stood back up and began to clap his hands while pant laughing at them.

Seeing the little act the two couldn't help but laugh a little. As scary as the ape that stood before them looked they couldn't help but feel a little amused by the primate's little show. The scarred bonobo then suddenly took a seat besides McVeigh and began pant laughing while relaxing into the sandbags.

"Ha, I think he likes you," Terry mused.

"Shut up!" McVeigh chuckled back to Terry before feeling a light grip upon his knee. "Whoa, okay, okay alright," he continued before taking another drink from the bottle to ease himself.

The scarred ape then noticed McVeigh drinking and quickly pointed at his cup and then towards his mouth.

"Ah… you want a drink fugly?" Terry laughed as he saw the gesture. "Hey, go on. Give him some," to which McVeigh gave him a __I don't know if this is a good idea__ glance. "Come on. Give him some, man. See what happens," Terry finished excitedly.

"Alright," McVeigh said aloud, shaking his head a little.

Popping out the cork, McVeigh was about to pour some more into his cup and hand it off to the ape when the bonobo instead reached out and took the whole bottle from him.

"Whoa, hey!"

The two watched as the scarred bonobo took a couple of whiff form the bottle, glanced at them for a moment, smiled and then tipped the bottle into his mouth.

"Whoa, whoa whoa, hey!" Terry started.

"That's not water!" McVeigh tried to warn but it was already too late.

The moment the ape took a few gulps he suddenly moved the bottle away from his face and sprayed the two humans with the alcohol, causing Terry to laugh aloud while McVeigh was unamused as he got the brunt of the spray.

"Shit!" McVeigh, complained as he wiped at his face while Terry couldn't contain himself leaning his back in hard laughter.

The two watched as the ape was making a gagging noise and coughed a few times before he glanced back at them and joined in the laughter, reaching on over to pat them on the knees and shoulders. During this merry time the scarred ape suddenly stood up, taking a hold of McVeigh's gun that he was testing and swung it around like it was a play thing, shocking the two humans.

"Whoa whoa whoa, okay. Alright," McVeigh said startlingly, reaching his hand out to the ape, while Terry quickly pointed his gun at the animal.

The two were now breathing heavily, knowing how dangerous it would be if the ape had accidentally pressed the trigger. McVeigh then tried to coax the ape to giving him back the weapon, like one would as a child to which the bonobo was still happily swinging the gun around like it were some game.

"Okay buddy, easy now," McVeigh said slowly while Terry chuckled anxiously.

Just when McVeigh thought he was getting through to the still laughing ape the creature suddenly swung the gun upwards and pulled the trigger to the weapon, instantly killing Terry on the spot. With a gasp, McVeigh looked down at his now deceased friend before turning back towards the ape with wide eyes. Instead of the jolly scarred ape that was being friendly with them earlier, McVeigh now saw what was really in front of him. The scarred bonobo had the most hate filled eyes, mouth open slightly, baring his long fangs. Just then McVeigh noticed the edge of the ape's mouth slowly rose up as if he were smiling at him. Then it hit him and it all making sense now. The ape wasn't being friendly with them at all, he had wanted something and had tricked both he and Terry. Tricked by an ape whom they thought was nothing more than a stupid monkey.

Koba watched with amusement as the human was looking at him with great fear.

 _ _That's right human, be afraid of me.__

Before the human can utter a word or cry for help, Koba pulled the trigger for the gun, firing several bullets into the man, silencing him forever.

Quietly both Grey and Stone approached Koba from the side and looked down at the two humans whom were now still, unmoving. Pope joined them and stared at Koba's handiwork before turning towards the scarred bonobo and patted his shoulder several times.

" _ _Good work Koba. Now we take weapons to show apes. Show them that humans want war. Show them that Caesar has been lied to and trust humans too much. Make him lose the trust of apes,__ " Pope gestured.

The scarred chimpanzee then turned to both Stone and Grey and ordered them to pick up several of the weapons to showcase their findings. The two glanced at Koba to which the bonobo slowly nodded at them to do as Pope says. Satisfied, Pope retrieved the weapon that was in Koba's hand and looked down at it before glancing up at the bonobo once more.

"Now. We show apes. Who should be leader instead," Pope said aloud to Koba whom merely stared back at him before the bonobo slowly let his eyes fall back down to the weapon in his hands.

* * *

 **Introducing Ray from WFTPOTA: Revelations book.**

 **Fun fact. Rocket's name is exactly signed as described by Malcolm in this chapter from what I could gather on multiple sources.**

 **Things are starting to roll here. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello readers!**

 **WARNING! there is a semi-explicit violent section down below I will mark it before any of you do read it if your squeamish and will give a brief description of what happens down below in the end notes.  
**

* * *

Throughout the day Caesar, Rocket, Maurice, Luca and the rest of the apes had worked tirelessly clearing out the rest of the debris from the access tunnels within the dam. The humans meanwhile were, as usual, running about assisting with clearing the debris and replacing the components for their machines. It was much later into the evening when the apes all paused when they heard the slow start of thrumming emanating deep within the dam. Eventually the sound got louder and louder all around them and then the human woman ran passed them all, calling out to one of the other humans deep within the access tunnels.

"Malcolm!" Ellie had shouted at the top of her lungs as she peered down the access hatch.

"What? What is it? What happened?" Malcolm called back from down the shaft, worried that something had gone wrong.

Eventually the humans and apes all emerged from the dam and noticed the low glow that was coming from deep within the Red Woods. Making their way towards it the humans were overjoyed at what they found. There the 76 gas station stood, all lit up with a slow hum of electricity running through it. Foster and Kemp couldn't contain themselves as they both suddenly rushed into the gas station and started to rummage around. As Malcolm, Ellie and Alexander stood there they perked up along with many of the other apes when they all suddenly heard music in the air. They couldn't believe it, actual music long lost in time was suddenly brought back with the return of power. Ellie couldn't help herself as she wiped away at a tear while Malcolm held both her and Alexander close to him.

"I can't believe we did it," Malcolm breathed, letting his gaze wander on over to all the apes.

Many of the younger apes had not seen such an intense glow nor had they heard music before and were quite agitated by it with their hair standing on end. The older apes though, knew exactly what the strange lights and sounds were and so with their unnerved demeanor had calmed down the younger ones quite a bit. As quickly as their fear came and with the reassurance from many of the elder apes. They younger ones approached the gas station and touched it, looking up at the blinding artificial lights and listening to the strange sounds it was making.

Hearing the approaching hoof beats from one of the horses, Malcolm looked around himself and saw that Caesar had approached, the ape's stern eyes upon the gas station before giving him full attention.

"It worked," Malcolm said to the chimp. "Well… at least here it did. We'll know more once we get to the city," he finished.

Malcolm watched as Caesar had seemed to contemplate on something for a little bit before the chimpanzee leader turned back to address him.

"Come. Trust," Caesar said simply extending a hand out to which Malcolm slowly reached out a took a hold of.

…

It was already getting dark when Koba, Pope, Grey and Stone were making their way back to the colony. They had spent most of the day scrounging for the human weapons that were the most dangerous looking so that they could present it to the colony back home. Once satisfied with what they hauled, the four apes had to carefully maneuver atop of the rooftops in fear of being spotted by the humans. As they hid, they all perked up when they suddenly heard some of the humans screaming in alarm down below. Curiously the four apes peeked their heads on over and observed as the humans were all rushing towards the weapon storage warehouse.

" _ _Seems like they found dead humans,__ " Pope mused, noticing Koba's frown deepening while both Grey and Stone nervously glanced at one another before they turned their attentions back to the humans below.

Giving a small chuff, Koba then guided the four of them back onto the Golden Gate Bridge and carefully made their way across it, careful not to drop the cases that contained the human firearms. Once they reached the other side, they tied the metallic containers together and swung them onto their steeds, before riding into the forest that laid before them.

After nearly riding for about an hour, Pope's dark green eyes scanned the treetops. He kept his sights out for something, anything to give him a clue of the whereabouts of Caesar and the other apes. Keeping a vigilance up and about, Pope was soon rewarded when he sighted one of his personal scouts, another chimpanzee whose waived off in the distance at the approaching apes.

" _ _Caesar heading home,__ " Pope could barely make out the gestures far up in the distance.

Glancing back at the others in front of him Pope was quite relieved that they hadn't noticed the ape in the far off distance, too focus keeping their eyes on the trail before them. Looking back up at his scout did Pope give a nod at the chimp and waived a hand signal for him to leave. Taking a deep breath, Pope then ushered his horse forward, running pass the other three and suddenly pulled the reigns of his steed causing the four legged beast to stop. The neighing of the horses rang out from the other three animals as they too halted in their tracks as Pope had brought everyone to a sudden halt, nearly throwing off their riders,

"What are you doing!" Koba snarled out his hair standing all over his body in anger.

Pope however looked at the three apes in front of him before he hesitantly glanced around, slightly confusing them at his sudden timid expression.

"What wrong Pope?" Grey asked after a brief silence.

" _ _Not sure if Caesar is back with rest of the apes,__ " Pope presented to which Koba merely narrowed his eyes at the scarred chimpanzee.

" _ _Then we wait for him to return! We already have human weapons to show!__ " Koba rebuked to which Pope shook his head quickly.

" _ _Must inform all apes. We must tell every ape of Caesar's failure so that apes from colony will listen. We have to separate,__ " Pope urged to which the other three glanced at each other, confused by this sudden turn of events.

" _ _Not sure why we separate if Caesar is not back. We can just wait for him and the rest of apes there then when they return,__ " Grey Suggested.

" _ _No time! If we wait too long and humans get power back we could all be in danger,__ " Pope signed quickly. " _ _Humans might already be heading here because they found dead humans that Koba killed,__ " Pope added to which Koba snarled.

" _ _Humans can't blame apes. Humans kill each other all the time. Kill two, no different,__ " Koba stated.

" _ _True but humans will always find something to blame apes for,__ " Pope countered Koba to which the bonobo huffed and glared down to the side.

" _ _You three go towards dam, Caesar and other warriors might still be up there. I will go back to colony and if Caesar and apes are there I will wait for you three to return so we can inform apes. But if Caesar and apes not there, then I will wait for you three to return,__ " Pope suggested, noticing Koba thinking it over.

Koba, Stone and Grey thought long and hard about it, taking note of what Pope was suggesting to them. There were truths to what the scarred chimpanzee had informed humans were very quick to blame things and since the apes themselves did not live too far from them the could potentially enact a coup upon them.

Then there was the matter of the rest of the apes being separated for the moment. Most of the males had gone along with Caesar that morning to help out the humans, leaving only the Gorilla Guards and females alone. If they showed up without all the apes there they could be wasting valuable time to showcase Caesar's failed leadership thus allowing the humans to suddenly attack them in the night where they can't see well.

Closing his eyes tightly, Koba thought about this long and hard before he glanced up at the sky and could make out the already purple and orange hues that were quickly fading as the forest grew darker all around them. He then glanced to Stone and Grey whom stared back at him.

" _ _Your choice Koba,__ " Grey signed to which Stone agreed with a grunt of his own.

Letting out a sigh, Koba glared back at Pope, annoyed that the chimpanzee could possibly be right again, relented.

" _ _You go back to the colony,__ " Koba gestured to which Pope smiled at, " _ _But. Stone goes with you too,__ " Koba finished, noticing that Pope freezing up at the mention that Stone was going with him.

" _ _Something wrong?__ " Stone signed as he pushed his horse forward, standing next to the still stunned Pope.

"Nothing… Pope is… Happy… That friend. Is going with him. Back to colony," Pope spoke slowly, giving the gray colored chimpanzee with the small hair tuft on his head a long side glance before facing Koba again a look of slight displeasure upon his face.

With a grunt, Koba then veered his horse off onto the trail on the right path that lead all the way to where the dam was. Grey gave the two other chimpanzees a long glance before he too trailed after Koba with his own steed.

Pope watched as both Koba and Grey left them and slowly turned to look at Stone whom was eyeing the other two before turning to face him.

" _ _We go then,__ " Stone signed to which Pope slowly nodded in return.

"We go," Pope answered with an annoyed grunt, turning his horse around and galloping away towards the colony, a scowl etched upon his lips.

…

Making their way back towards the colony, Blue Eyes and Ash lingered a little beside the traveling troops, pondering of what they had seen and heard from the human gas stations. What they've witnessed was so very new to them, it was scary at first but then it became fascinating just as quickly.

" _ _Strange huh? The humans lights and… and…__ " Ash gestured trying to think of the strange word again.

"Music," Ray spoke up as he approached the two chimpanzee and greeted them.

Ash smiled at the orangutan whilst Blue Eyes merely frown at the appearance of Ray. It wasn't that Blue Eyes did not like the slightly younger orangutan, it was just that he sort of found Ray to be… Odd. If that was the right term to use. He knew that most of the orangutans were mostly solitary apes but Ray was especially a strange case. One could usually find the young orangutan sitting up high above a tree or upon the walls of their home, eyeing the sky above as if he could read the clouds, sun, moon and stars. But that didn't matter to Blue Eyes much anyways. He just tolerated the ape when Ray would often times join them. After all they were still family in a sort of way.

" _ _Thank you Ray,__ " Ash gestured to which the orangutan hooted and nodded his head at the older chimp. " _ _As I was saying did you not find it strange and exhilarating? The human machines, lights and… strange sounds,__ " Ash excitedly signed excitedly at Blue Eyes.

Before Blue Eyes could give his opinion on the matter the three apes heard a grunt causing them to round their heads in the direction from where it came from. There just slightly behind them, knuckle-walked Fox.

" _ _You are always excited about these human things. A little too much, but not me! I don't like them,__ " Fox grunted as he stopped to sign before knuckle walking again.

" _ _Fox lies! He liked the strange human machines too! I saw him reaching out to touch the glowing machines,__ " Shell hooted in amusement before jumping away as Fox barked and reached out for him, missing him by just a hair.

" _ _Human machine very strange. Never see it or heard it act like that before. So different from fires and sounds we make,__ " Flint chimed in.

Blue Eyes had agreed. They all have never seen or heard such things before in their upbringing. Most of the older apes didn't seem to mind or care much for the humans objects but to the younger apes like them, it was all so new and tempting. Making them want to experience these new sights and sounds, to be lost and know about them. But they had to heed that those things were human objects and not apes. Blue Eyes himself knew that no matter how much he and the other young apes wanted to explore these new wonders, they had to tread carefully, making sure that it was indeed safe first.

Stopping in his tracks Blue Eyes couldn't help but blink several times. Was he thinking just like his father would in a situation like this?

"Blue Eyes?" Ash called out quietly to his friend as it was getting much too dark for them to see each other sign.

Grunting and shaking his head to get rid of the thought, Blue Eyes glanced up at Ash, noticing that the others had all moved on, bickering with each other.

"I'm okay… Just thinking," he responded before he slowly knuckle walked up to the other chimp, joining his side and moving on.

…

* * *

 **Violent Section Ahead**

* * *

Riding along the trail with Pope, Stone glanced up at the sky, seeing the stars slowly dotting the abyss above. Soon enough the forest was enshrouded by darkness as the sun slowly set down far off in the distance from whence he could not see. As he followed Pope though, Stone then noticed that something was off. Even if his eyes were not good at seeing in the dark like most primates he knew the trails that lead them back to the colony, like the back of his hand yet the trail that Pope was guiding them on was not. He was about to question the scarred chimpanzee of what they were doing but then noticed that they had arrived upon a open clearing, illuminated only by the faint light of the moon. Glancing around, Stone huffed out finally noticing their location. Pope had somehow lead the both of them back to the human's camp, prompting him to glare up at the other chimpanzee.

"Pope, What we doing?" Stone grunted catching the scarred chimpanzee's attention whom silently stared back at him before getting off of his horse.

Stone observed as Pope stared a little bit longer before the chimpanzee put a finger in front of his lips, the gesture to be quiet before he silently maneuvered through the campsite. Curious as to what the other chimpanzee was doing, Stone got off of his horse as well and followed Pope through the human camp. As he trailed behind, making sure to not hit anything with his knuckles or feet, Stone couldn't help but glare at the other chimpanzee's backside.

Why were they here? What was Pope doing? Did he not say that they needed to make haste back to the colony to inform of the imminent danger from the humans? If it were so then why were they wasting their time here? Pope better have a good explanation for making this detour, Stone thought to himself.

As he followed the scarred chimpanzee, Stone then noticed Pope sneaking around towards one of the vehicles, grabbing something on the ground along the way. Upon closer inspection, Stone could see that one of the humans had stayed behind and was idly sucking on a stick with smoke coming out of it. Stone remembered seeing some humans do that years ago when he was still living at the zoo with many others of his kin, before his liberation and awakening to his new mind like many of his other brothers and sisters. But now was not the time to reminiscence about the past, for they had a duty and job to do, to warn their kin about the dangers of the humans back in the human city.

Just then human music sounded off in the distance, causing them all to freeze. Shoulders rising and falling fast at being caught, Stone turned his attention back to the human and notice the man sticking his head out, lingering it there for a second before pulling back in. Letting his gaze wander on over to where Pope was, Stone then noticed that the scarred chimpanzee was on the move once more, sneaking in quietly from the side of the vehicle.

Narrowing his eyes, Stone made to approach Pope but stopped when the scarred chimpanzee suddenly leaped into the human's vehicle and yanked the man out into the clearing. Before the man could yell out, Pope had raised whatever he had picked up off of the ground and slammed it into the human's head, causing the body below to suddenly convulse. Stone then watched in slight horror as Pope raised the weapon into the air and brought it back down onto the man's head again. Over and over Pope repeated the process several more times until the human's face was even barely recognizable anymore. Nothing but a mush of matter and red blood.

Letting out a huff, Stone approached the heavy breathing chimp and stood over the human's body. He turned his attention to Pope once, eyeing the giant red covered wrench within the chimp's hands before glancing back down at the human's body again.

"Why… did you kill human?" Stone asked quietly.

"My plan," Pope breathed out as he looked around and bent down, picking up the human's hat and lighter.

"What… Plan?" Stone asked hesitantly, turning to face Pope.

"We must make apes believe us. So we must put the blame. On humans," Pope muttered.

"What blame?" Stone asked, brows furrowing.

"The ones who killed Caesar," Pope answered in a low tone.

At this Stone tilted his head in confusion. Kill Caesar? The humans killed Caesar? When? How? What was Pope getting at? Then it suddenly dawned on him and he took a step back as it all fell together.

"Apes… we were only suppose to tell apes… Not ki-"

"Caesar has to die!" Pope spat, turning to face Stone whom stared back at him incredulously.

"Ape. Not kill. Ape," Stone growled at the scarred chimpanzee.

Pope however merely blinked several times at Stone, as if he didn't know what was going on.

" _ _The plan… Your plan was to inform the apes about the danger of the humans by showing them the guns that we have found and with it they will leave Caesar and join our cause. We did not agree to kill Caesar. Ape Not Kill Ape,__ " Stone signed in anger.

Noticing Pope shy away from him a little bit, Stone grunted, seeming to have gotten through to the scarred chimp. Sure Caesar was indeed wrong to trust the humans and they all had agreed on that but there was no reason for them to kill him. He was ape too and they all must abide by their sacred law, for they are not enemies to each other but family. And if they didn't have each other then what did would they all have in the end? At least that was what Caesar had taught them. Growling at this idiotic plan, Stone turned around and expected Pope to follow him.

"Stone…"

At the sound of his name, Stone turned back to face Pope and was going to ask him what he wanted but was suddenly met with pain as it erupted all over the left side of his face. Letting out a yelp, Stone fell to the ground and covered the side of his head with his hands and writhed in pain as the world spun around him. Letting out a gasp, he glanced up and froze as Pope's dark green irises met his. Then Stone noticed the side of Pope's mouth twitched and the chimp's frown was slowly replaced by a frightening sneer, making his face looking like something akin to a monster. Before Stone himself could react, Pope raised the red metallic weapon and brought it down, striking him over the skull, the intense blow to his head causing his body to lock up.

As his body was stunned from the sudden trauma to his head, Stone then felt calloused hands, flipping him over onto his belly with something wrapping around his neck. The object around his throat then suddenly tightened, causing him to try and gasp for air but found out that he couldn't. Struggling within Pope's grasp, Stone reached out onto the ground and grabbed at the grass and rope around his neck as his vision was filled with small blotches of light. Tears started to fall from Stone's eyes as he struggled to free himself, finding that his strength was fading quickly due to the lack of air. Before he faded completely, Stone had wished that he could meet his mate, child and friends once last time. Then all was dark.

Still tugging at the rope as hard as he can, Pope pulled and pulled even after Stone had gone limp underneath him. It wasn't until several more minutes with his muscles straining did he finally let go of the rope, seeing Stone's pathetic form falling to the ground with a soft thud. Huffing and puffing, Pope dropped onto his knuckles and slowly walked around Stone's still form. With a grunt, Pope then grabbed a handful of hair atop of Stone's head and yanked the ape's face up towards his. There he could see the far off look of Stone's now pale green glassy colored eyes. Letting out a few small chuckles, Pope casually let go of the dead chimp's head, letting it fall onto the ground with a thump and turned away, satisfied at what he had accomplished.

Picking up the human's hat and lighter with his bloody hands, smiling at it for this was the key item to his grand scheme of things to come. Ambling back to where the horses were at, Pope opened a pocket on the side and slipped the human piece of clothing into it before he opened another part of the pocket and pulled out a small handgun that was fully loaded. Here it is the other object that he needed for his plan to work. He knew that Koba, Grey and Stone had seen him taking one of the bigger weapons but the others did not know that he had secretly tucked away this little handgun. He could use the big weapon to get rid of Caesar but that would have been too obvious and he would surely be blamed for breaking the sacred law… But now he can rightfully put the blame onto the humans with this small gun that Koba and Grey did not notice him stashing away.

Putting the weapon back into the sack, Pope slowly turned back around and eyed both the bodies of the once angry human and Stone.

 _ _Should have done what I had said and stayed with Koba and Grey. Then you could have lived a little longer...__

Pulling himself onto his horse, Pope then kicked the animal's side causing it to gallop off towards the colony.

* * *

 **End of Violent Section**

* * *

…

As they entered the ape colony the humans, sans Ellie and Malcolm were astounded by the structures as well as the beauty of it all. High wooden walls lined up at every side with ape scouts always on the lookout. In the middle stood flat stone platforms to which many apes were situated upon. The most impressive thing that they all saw was of course the giant tree that has a spiraling staircase made of wood leading all the way up to a tree house way up above.

"Holy shit!" Foster whispered as he looked around, completely in awe.

"I could take pictures of this all day," Kempt chimed.

As they followed Caesar through the grounds the chimp leader was gesturing at all of his apes, possibly informing them all that the humans themselves were friends. Stopping by some of the stone steps he genuinely turned around and offered Ellie his hand. Ellie without even a second thought, fully trusting Caesar, reached out and took his hand into hers, allowing him to lead her. Once he had reached a nice perch, Caesar then gathered the humans together before gesturing outwards towards the city, far off in the distance.

"The… Lights," Caesar pointed out.

At a lost for words upon seeing their city glowing in the distance, Malcolm instead expressed his gratitude by placing a friendly hand upon the chimpanzee's shoulder.

Caesar smiled back at Malcolm for a moment before his eyes caught something else behind the man. Standing on top of the platform just above them stood Cornelia, looking much better than she had in days, smiling down at him.

Following Caesar's warming stare both Malcolm and Ellie noted his mate standing just above them, looking very well with their child cradled within her arms. Silently they watched Caesar leave them and approach his made signing something to her before they both pressed their foreheads together. The scene was so touching that Ellie couldn't help but hugged Malcolm close to her as they both watched both king and queen embracing each other.

Down off to the side of the colony hidden within the shadows stood Pope, still covered in blood. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Caesar leading Cornelia towards the edge of their perch. Letting out a disgruntled chuff, Pope faced Rex off to the side and nodded at the gorilla. Nodding back, Rex flipped the human lighter switch and seeing the flame come on the gorilla then tossed the object into a pile of dry sticks. As soon as the lighter landed within the entanglement is quickly lit up into a small flame that slowly eased towards the wooden structure of their protective walls. With a grunt, Rex faced Pope and nodded, informing Pope that the deed was done.

Eyes still kept on the human city, Caesar felt Cornelia's hand upon his shoulder, prompting him to glance her way. Noticing that she was looking at something else, Caesar followed her gaze and noticed that she was watching their eldest son, Blue Eyes slowly approaching them a look of wonder upon his features.

"Mother…? Blue Eyes signed, still in awe that his mother was doing alright.

Instead of answering, Cornelia instead reached her arm out towards Blue Eyes and waited patiently as he approached her. Once within arms length of her she touched her son upon the brows and then maneuvered her hand behind his head in a motherly fashion. Before she knew it though, Blue Eyes had quickly wrapped his arms around her in a great big hug, careful to avoid not crushing his little brother at the same time.

Watching his family embracing each other filled Caesar with so much contempt and love that he could just watch them forever. Caesar then let his gaze travel to where the humans, whom were watching the family reunion before they talked among themselves excitedly at what they had all accomplished. Caesar couldn't help but smile though. After several days of not being sure that they would need to go to war or not due to the sudden inclusion of humans, Caesar was now sure that they could live peacefully with each other.

Caesar then frowned when he heard some noises coming from the tree roots below him. Curiously Caesar peered down into the darkness of the tree roots, squinting his eyes to see what had made that strange noise. Then he noticed an ape, perched upon one tree log that jutted outwards from the side of the cliff. Curiously, Caesar tilted his head at the ape and soon noticed the fishnet scar marks upon the other.

Pope?

Caesar himself had seen this fellow chimpanzee around the colony but usually the ape would keep to himself. He didn't know the ape personally but from what he had gathered the chimp had lived a life in the laboratories as well, just like Koba. At the thought of Koba, Caesar then remembered that he hadn't seen his friend anywhere when he had returned with the humans. Was Koba still angry with him? He'll really have to make amends with his friend at this point but hopefully Koba would forgive him for what he did.

Just then he noticed the scarred ape, Pope, pointing up at him as if he was going to sign but something seemed off about this gesture. Then with the light of the moonlight, something glint off at the end of the chimp's hand and Caesar's eyes widened at the sight.

A loud bang pierced the night, silencing all.

Letting out a gasp and holding onto his wound, Caesar stared wide eyed at the ape who had shot him, a sneering grin upon his half scarred face. Faltering slightly, Caesar then lost his footing and fell forward body hitting all the tree branches all the while. The last thing he heard while he was falling was the piercing cries from Cornelia and Blue Eyes.

…

Koba was beyond angry, he was absolutely livid. Both he and Grey had wasted valuable time making their way to the dam only to find that it had been deserted. They had even gone inside to check and see if any of their fellow apes were still there but to their disappointment they weren't. He should have never let Pope suggested of splitting them all up. It was idiotic and he was going to show the chimpanzee a thing or two once he got back to the colony. As both he and Grey rode through the darkness back towards the colony the sound of gunfire suddenly echoed all around them, causing their horses to neigh aloud and stopped in their tracks.

"Koba! Gun!" Grey said quickly in the dark.

Without answering the other ape, Koba urged his horse on forward. Within a matter of minutes both Koba and Grey reached their home only to find that a part of their great wooden wall was catching on fire. Gasping, Koba jumped off of his horse and was about to run towards the open trench way when a figure stumbled in front of him. Taking a glance at the other ape, Koba then noticed that it was Pope, seeming battered up while holding onto his right shoulder as if he were wounded. Approaching the ape quickly, Koba looked Pope over.

"What happened!" he demanded.

"Human… Attacked us. Killed. Stone… tried to kill me. I. Tried to warn apes. But too late! Now they shoot again," Pope whimpered, his shoulders rising and falling as he breathed quickly to keep himself under control, likely on the verge of a breakdown.

At this news, Koba held his breath and turned towards Grey who also had a disbelieving look upon his face. The humans killed Stone? Not possible, Stone can't be… he can't be. Shaking his head, Koba then took a hold of Pope and tried to calm the scarred chimpanzee down.

"Humans shoot? Shoot at who?" Koba asked urgently to which the scarred chimpanzee shook his head and looked away in shame.

Koba then perked up when he heard Blue Eyes' voice upon the frantic calls within the colony. Leaving the whimpering Pope alone, Koba and Grey ran towards the gates and into the colony.

When both Koba and Grey ran inside, Pope's whimpering increased slowly but instead of cries it evolved into a small fit of pant laughter as he held his stomach and doubled over on himself as he continued laughing.

"Human! Gun!" Blue Eyes shouted, presenting the small firearm and hat in one hand before falling onto his knees.

Suddenly a shadowy figure appeared before the distraught young prince, causing the teary Blue Eyes to look up into the shocked scarred face of his uncle, Koba. Taking the hat and weapons into his hands, Koba looked down at Blue Eyes to see who had been shot. The young prince sniffed before signing one word back to him.

"Father…"

"Caesar?" Koba breathed, his good eyes quickly glancing around for the chimpanzee, unable to find him.

Letting his gaze fall back down into the handgun and hat within his hands, he was suddenly wracked with despair and sadness, accompanied with a few drops of tears that flowed down his eyes. He had thought that he was over Caesar, that the king was no longer his friend? But then why can't he explain this sudden emotion that emerged deep within him? This feeling it was burning his veins and clouding his vision in red. Suddenly baring his fangs, Koba lifted the hat and gun into the air.

"Humans! Kill! Caesar!" Koba shouted at the top of his lungs, voiced filled with absolute indignation and gaining the attention of all the apes around him. "Burn! Ape! Home!" he continued pointing at the fire that now grew twice as big when he had first saw it.

Breathing heavily, Koba's eyes widened when he saw the figures of the humans making an escape through the roaring flames, fleeing away. With few pants he bared his fangs and then pointed in the direction that the humans had ran off to.

"Go! Get Them!" he ordered, prompting the rest of the apes to charge into the direction he was pointing at.

"Apes! Must attack! Human city! Fight back! Come! Fight for Caesar!" he roared.

Letting his arm fall down to his side, Koba glanced around quickly and notice Grey climbing onto the platform, looking angry and worried just as much as he is.

" _ _Females and young stay in the woods. We go to the human city,__ " Koba gestured frantically at Grey whom nodded before hopping away and relaying the message.

Pacing upon the platform, Koba then noticed that Blue Eyes was on his hands and knees. Taking in a deep gulp of air to clam himself slightly, Koba reached down and picked up the young prince and placed their foreheads together.

"I promise. We will. Avenge. Your father," Koba spoke softly to which he could feel Blue Eyes slightly nodded his head.

Pulling back, Koba then turned his head to the side slowly and noticed Pope standing in front of the fire that was burning their home, staring at the both of them. Koba couldn't help himself as he squinted and eyed the other ape. For some reason or another he could not make out Pope's ape body at all, instead what Koba saw was nothing but a dark shadowy figure that stared back at both he and Blue Eyes with piercing green eyes that were illuminated by the flames that surrounded it. Koba couldn't help but shudder slightly at the image as Pope's distant figure did not resemble that of an ape but something entirely different, something not an ape but more sinister. Hoping to keep Blue Eyes from looking at the other chimp, Koba forced Blue Eyes to look at him as all the apes around them evacuated their burning home.

* * *

 **In the violent section, it kinda goes into detail of how Carver and Stone are killed off... Sorta brutally by none other than our beloved scarred chimpanzee, Pope.**

 **So this was a long chapter. I was thinking of splitting it into two parts but what the heck eh?**

 **What did ya'll think about what happened? Does it fit at all? Good? Bad?**

 **Please let me know kind readers and I'll see you all in the next chapter. Thank for reading and commenting!**


	9. Chapter 9

Koba and the army of apes bounded across the Golden Gate Bridge making a beeline straight to the place he knows where the apes would have a fighting chance to fight the humans. His good eye sighted the human fort and directed his apes to descend themselves upon whatever humans that was unfortunately still there. There were screams, cries and gunfire as apes picked out the few humans and dealt with them. During the brief struggle, Koba then directed his ape army into the warehouse where they proceeded to rip apart the metallic boxes, containing the firearms. Approaching one, Koba then quickly showed his apes how to load the weapon, after seeing many a times how the humans had done it and fired the M16 into the air, causing the apes to quiver at the sight.

"Apes! Grab guns! We fight! He shouted throughout the warehouse, gaining hoots and screeches from his fellow brothers as they started to follow what Koba had taught them.

Panting heavily, Koba spotted Blue Eyes, Ash and Rocket standing a few ways away from them. Approaching the three, Koba then offered Rocket the weapon to which the bulky hairless chimpanzee hesitated slightly before looking away from the scarred bonobo. Disappointed at Rocket's reluctance, Koba then looked at Blue Eyes, offering the young prince the weapon in his hands. Blue Eyes glanced around him at the other excited apes, down at the gun in Koba's hands before finally resting his gaze upon scarred bonobo's face. Slowly reaching up, Blue Eyes accepted the weapon, gaining a grin from Koba whom gave the young chimp a few pats on the shoulder.

Looking towards Ash, Koba then grabbed a weapon out of the hands of a ape that ran on by and offered the chimpanzee it as well, whom hesitantly accepted it while frantically looking up at Rocket whom merely narrowed his eyes back at his son. Lowering his head, Ash turned towards Blue Eyes and signed something quick to him. The young prince nodded and gave Ash a pat on the back before glancing up at his uncle Rocket. The two then quietly walked away and joined the other apes, preparing themselves for the upcoming battle that was about to ensue.

…

The sounds of screams and gunfire had never sounded so beautiful before as Pope casually walked among the rooftops and spectated the battle that raged on below. Bodies of both humans and apes fell as they all slaughtered each other without mercy. Flames and explosions erupted all around the streets lighting the the night with its red and orange glow. Watching on Pope noticed that his brothers were being pushed back by the humans as they slightly got the upper hand but to his surprise Koba came charging right back in, boosting all of the apes morale. Amused by this, Pope leaned onto a railing as he watched the scarred bonobo leading the charge while firing at the humans. Pointless and pathetic as it was Pope did give Koba credit though, to be able to fight and lead their apes into battle.

Continuing to watch on, Pope merely tsked and shook his head at the apes that fought below him. It was a fool's way of fighting but then again they were all nothing to him, these apes that followed Caesar's and now Koba's leadership. From the deaths of these fools he will build a better ape society. One full of strong apes that will destroy their enemies if they were stupid enough to challenge them, be they man or apes. He just needed for Koba and his followers to do the dirty work first and then die before claiming his rightful place as leader. But if by some miracle Koba did not fall by the end of it all, who couldn't say that accident could still possibly happen? Besides, accidents happens all the time correct?

Well… He'll just have to patiently wait for it to be over so that he may lead the apes into a better world Pope mused to himself. It might take a while but he was patient, he had been waiting for many a years now and everything was perfectly falling into place. Caesar is now gone, soon to be Koba and whoever else stood in his way. Then he could lead the apes towards a better society that what Caesar had created.

There was a grunt behind Pope, causing the scarred chimpanzee to turn around to face Rex and Red along with many other apes behind them.

" _Are we ready?_ " Rex signed to Pope whom looked over the edge of the railing once more.

" _Not yet. Let's let them take care of the humans,_ " Pope answered back as he noticed the approaching tank from down the street.

That was his cue to leave and he faced the two gorillas and apes that followed him. Pope gestured them to hide themselves once things have settled down before they could set up the "accident" that will unfortunately occur to their new leader, Koba. With a singular nod from his followers the apes all disappeared into the shadows with Pope glancing back once at the chaos below before he too followed.

…

Blue Eyes hid behind a vehicle as the sounds of gunfire buzzed over his head. Panicking the young chimpanzee looked around, eyes widening at what he was seeing. Apes of various ages were falling left and right, their death cries forever ringing within his ears. Humans screaming at the top of their lungs as they either died and or shouted at each other. This was wrong… All of it. How did he think that this would ever turn out good for them? Curling into himself, he wished that he was somewhere far and not here. Oh how he'd wish that his father was here.

There was a loud explosion, causing Blue Eyes to jerk his head up and see a giant vehicle with a long barrel in the front of it rolling towards them. The rapping sounds of bullets bouncing off of concrete and vehicles quickly traveled towards Blue Eyes. Stunned with fear, Blue Eyes froze on the spot until someone grabbed a hold of him and yanked him out of the way of the hailing bullets. Landing on the ground with a hard thud, Blue Eyes weary glanced up to see Rocket staring down at him with a worried look.

"Uncle Rocke-"

"Come!" Rocket barked out as he hoisted the young prince up to his feet and quickly lead him away.

As Blue Eyes followed the burly older chimp, he couldn't help but glance behind himself when there was a loud explosion, causing many apes to be tossed into the air. Feeling Rocket's hand again the older chimpanzee quickly shoved Blue Eyes down in between a couple of vehicles along with Ash and Maurice.

" _We stay here until fight clears, understand?_ " Rocket signed to the two younger apes who nodded back.

Keeping his head low, Blue Eyes stared at the gun in his hands and felt disgusted at himself. This was what his father had been trying to avoid all along. Now he understood why his father had wanted peace, understood why his uncles and Ash followed Caesar's way. They all saw what he didn't or rather had not wanted to see. His instilled hate and anger towards the humans had overclouded his judgment and now here he was, in the middle of this freighting battle between apes and humans and it scared him, shook him down to his very core.

Feeling a gentle hand upon his shoulder, Blue Eyes glanced up to the sad eyes of his uncle Maurice whom offered him a small smile.

" _Do not worry Blue Eyes. We will try to keep you and Ash safe,_ " Maurice offered the young prince.

" _Stay strong until the battle is over,_ " Rocket signed in as well before he forced them to duck as a hail of bullets whizzed by over their heads.

Blue Eyes huffed out a pant and closed his eyes tightly, hoping, wishing that what the two older apes were telling him the truth. But of course words could only do so much. He now wished that his father were here. His father. His poor father, shot and killed by the humans that he had allowed into the colony. If only he had known what they were going to do… Then maybe they could have avoided all of this.

…

With a shuddering breath, Caesar opened his eyes, gaze staring up high into the trees up above. It was early morning from the looks of it and for some reason he was laying on the soft ground beneath him, instead of his cot back in his tree house. Tree house? Yes, he should be back home. Home with Cornelia and their two beloved sons. So why was he on the ground here in the middle of the forest? Then it dawned on him. Last night's events coming back to him. A scarred ape, the sound of a gun, falling and then the screams and cries of both Cornelia and Blue Eyes.

Chest rising and lowering, Caesar was heaving as panic and fear settled in, pumping his blood with adrenaline. Trying to get up, Caesar grunted and winced when pain suddenly flared up from the his left chest area, causing him to fall back down onto his back. Reaching on over, Caesar touched the wound and flinched before bringing his hand back to stare at the blood that coated his fingers. He had been shot… By an ape no less and was probably going to die here.

As he laid there still in shock, Caesar heard footsteps approaching him, followed by familiar voices. Within his peripheral, Caesar could see several figures approaching him and once they were in his sights his green golden speckled eyes wandered on over to them. Soon enough he was staring into the shocked faces of both Alexander and Ellie, Malcolm's family.

"Dad!?"

"Oh, my god. Malcolm!"

"Caesar?" Malcolm breathed, clearly in shock and wonder as he emerged from the stones behind them.

Caesar however merely grimaced and tried to say something but all that came out of his mouth was a grunt and few wheezes. Taking note of his discomfort, Malcolm was quickly by his side in an instant and placed a hand upon his chest to still him.

"It's okay, Caesar. We're here. Ellie help me," Malcolm spoke quietly.

Caesar grunted in pain as both Malcolm and Ellie tried to pick him up from the ground as gently as they could.

"Sorry," both Malcolm and Ellie apologized.

"It… okay," Caesar grounded out after a couple pants, knowing fully well that they were trying to not cause as much discomfort as possible.

Soon enough the four of them slowly traversed through the forest at a slow pace, making their way towards the campsite where the vehicles were. Once they have made it there though, Caesar and the humans stopped dead in their tracks at what they saw. There on the ground besides the trucks were two bodies, one human and the other an ape's.

"What?" Malcolm exclaimed but stopped when he noticed the pained grunt from Caesar reminded him of the task at hand.

Quickly getting Ellie and Alex out of their stupor, Malcolm asked the boy to open the backdoor to the vehicle that they had the key to and they placed Caesar there. Once he was settled in, Caesar glanced back down at the two bodies, noticing that they belonged to Stone and the humans who was volatile towards his people. A thought occured to him and he slowly turned his sorrowful gaze up towards Ellie.

"My… Son… My… Family… Where?" Caesar asked desperately a couple of tears falling from his red puffy eyes.

"I… I don't know… I'm sorry," Ellie responded, feeling heartbroken at seeing her new friend in such a state.

Upon hearing her answer, Caesar lowered his shoulders and slowly glanced back at the two bodies that laid just outside.

"Try not to speak. You need to rest okay?" Ellie spoke in a soft tone to Caesar.

Gently taking the chimpanzee's bigger hand, Ellie guided it and placed it over the top of Caesar's wound.

"Hold," she said to the ape whom was breathing raggedly but complied and did as she ask.

"He's lost a lot of blood," Ellie spoke quietly, as she got out of the back of the vehicle and stood in front of Malcolm and Alex.

"Is he… Is he going to make it?" Alex asked in a stuttering voice.

Malcolm placed a hand on Alex's shoulder, glancing back at the bodies behind him quickly before facing his wife and son again.

"I don't understand… I… We thought Carver had shot him but. Now I don't know-" Malcolm said slowly, "Did someone else follow us out here-"

"Ape," Caesar suddenly cut the man off, causing everyone to look at him.

"What?"

"Ape… Did… This…" Caesar panted, finally looking away from the two bodies and letting his green golden eyes wander to each of their faces.

Caesar waited for the humans to say something or do anything but they didn't, instead they just glanced at each other in silence before Malcolm took in a deep breath.

"Alright. Alex, get in the truck. Ellie you good back here?" Malcolm asked to which Ellie nodded before taking a more comfortable position.

Walking to the driver's side, Malcolm hopped on in and started up the truck. This was a coup, if he ever knew one and he figured that maybe it was the scarred ape that didn't like them that did this. Glancing back at the two bodies behind them Malcolm heaved out a sigh before shifting the car into gear and driving away.

…

"We followed the humans here. They are hiding everywhere," Grey signed as he walked alongside Koba.

Snarling, Koba looked about seeing many of his apes screeching and hooting as they dragged the humans back down from the stairs and out into the open streets.

" _We must not let them escape. We must catch them all!_ " Koba gestured back to Grey whom nodded before bounding away to relay the message.

Chasing after the humans with the other younger apes Blue Eyes and Ash ducked when a frantic human swung around a guard pole wildly. Backing away from the man the apes then noticed Koba sneaking up from behind the human, reached out and took a hold of the pole and proceeded to snarl down at the attacker.

Satisfied that the human was paralyzed with fear, Koba turned to the younger apes and idly tossed the pole towards Ash. Rocket's son looked down at the piece of metal within his hands before glancing back up at Koba, unsure of why the object was suddenly given to him.

"Kill him," Koba ordered, pointing back to the human who started to beg for his life.

Ash hesitated and looked from the man back to his honorary uncle who was waiting eagerly for him.

" _Go ahead Ash… Make humans pay…_ " Koba gestured, waiting for the young male to bash the pathetic human over the head.

Koba watched as Ash was hesitant again before the young ape lowered the pole slowly looking away from him.

" _Caesar would not have wanted this,_ " Ash had signed to Koba, causing surprise to race across the scarred bonobo's face. " _He would have wanted us to have peace with these humans. They… They pose no threat to us._ "

Koba's eyes widen momentarily when he saw Ash signing back at him. There it was again, Caesar's words to defend the humans. Why? Why were they all like this? Could they not see that humans are all evil? Mulling over his thoughts Koba slowly approached Ash as the young ape tossed aside the object that was in his hands. Standing there with the younger chimp, Koba patted Ash's shoulder gently. What the young Ash did not know though was that Koba's mind had broke, his vision filled with red. So with a snarl, Koba took a hold of the surprised Ash by the scruff of his neck and dragged him away.

At the sudden turn of events, Blue Eyes and the other young apes quickly followed Koba and Ash up the stairway. Reaching the top, Blue Eyes held his breath as he watched Koba dragged his kicking and screaming friend over to the edge of the balcony.

 _Somebody do something._ Blue Eyes thought to himself as he looked on worriedly, noticing the hateful rage within Koba's eyes, seeming as if he were a different ape.

 _Anyone… Please do something._

Blue Eyes' breath hitched and his blood froze, knowing what Koba was about to do as the bonobo struggled with the young chimp underneath him.

 _He is going to kill him._

Ash's frantic cries still rang out into the air as he tried to break away from the stronger male.

 _Father… What do I do?_

Blue Eyes' heart pounded hard against his chest as he watched the bonobo tried to lift the screaming chimp off the ground but lost his hold on him as Ash redoubled his efforts to get away.

 _Father!_

Koba then finally grabbed a hold of Ash's leg and neck once more, successfully lifting the young chimp overhead with a snarl.

"LEAVE HIM!"

It was as if the voice had caused everything and everyone to stop in their tracks. All the screaming humans and all the chasing apes stopped momentarily, looking in the direction of whomever had roared out those two words.

Blinking several times, Koba dropped Ash, who scurried away and slowly looked to his right. Standing there at his full height with determination set within his icy irises stood Blue Eyes, chest heaving as if he had spent all day swinging through the forest. Did he hear it wrong? Was the one who actually yelled for him to stop, to bring him out of his rage filled stupor, Blue Eyes?

"Ape… Not kill. Ape," Blue Eyes recited the sacred law, loud enough for everyone around him to hear.

Koba glanced down at his shaking hands. What did he almost do? Was he almost going to kill one of their own kind because he lost his control? Panting to himself, Koba turned away from Blue Eyes and the other young apes before a scowl slowly enveloped his features. Rounding himself back to glare at Blue Eyes, Koba approached the young prince and stood before him.

"Caesar… Is gone. Apes. Follow Koba. Now," he grounded out to the young prince before turning around around and knuckle-walked away.

Letting out a breath that he didn't even realize that he was holding, Blue Eyes lost the support of his legs and sat down on the ground with a small thump, body all the while trembling. Did he just do that? Did he just forced Koba out of his madness? He couldn't believe it. All he wanted was for Koba to let go of Ash, he did not expect for it to actually work. During this though Blue Eyes suddenly felt someone giving him a strong hug from the side. Once he was released Blue Eyes turned to see the tearful face of Ash.

"Blue Eyes… Thank you!" Ash spoke through his sobs, tears flowing down from his green eyes, ignoring the curious looks of their fellow ape brothers as they slowly followed Koba to the other side.

Blue Eyes released his breath as his tears too started to run down the sides of his face. He had been so afraid, afraid of all the fighting, afraid of all the horrible noises, afraid of seeing other apes dying. That when no one else had stepped into to help Ash, did he unconsciously do it himself. By some miracle of what he had done, had snapped Koba back to his old self and therefore saved Ash and for that he was very grateful for. Taking a hold of the back of Ash's head, Blue Eyes then brought their foreheads together.

"Home… Family… Future…" Blue Eyes repeated his father's words as they both sat there, taking in the strength of each other.

* * *

 **Insane Koba is very bad Koba. Good thing someone was there to snap him out of it eh?**

 **And here is one of the Destiny that has been altered in this fic, the sparring of Ash's life.**

 **Yes I know the two words Blue Eyes used was from War for the Planet of the Apes but the line was so powerful and I thought that it would be appropriate for him to use it in such a dire situation. Also... Hey Blue Eyes, your inner Caesar is showing, XD. Like father like son hm? But yes, Blue Eyes is slowly changing now and writing this part out for him was hopefully natural enough. Would Caesar be proud of Blue Eyes for what he did for Ash?**

 **If you enjoyed the story please leave your thoughts and comments below. Thank you!**


	10. Chapter 10

"Oh my god. Look, the colony is on fire," Ellie pointed out as they drove down the road.

"Where are we going to go?" Alexander echoed in as he took peered at the rising smokes from the tower.

"Caesar, what?" Ellie asked when she heard the chimpanzee grunt several times.

Quickly Ellie reached on over and supported Caesar up as he leaned against the side of the window and gave several more grunts, weakly tapping the window.

"Is this it Caesar? Are we close?" Ellie asked the frantic ape.

"Where is he taking us?" Alexander asked quietly.

"I don't-" Malcolm started but then he was cut as Caesar began to frantically grunt again.

"Malcolm stop! I think he want's us to stop," Ellie announced from the back.

Slowing the truck down to a slow stop, the group quietly got out of the vehicle and assess their surrounding. It seemed to be some sort of small neighborhood with unkept vegetation that had grown out of control and are now swallowing most of the houses.

"I don't understand… What are we doing here dad?" Alexander spoke aloud as he glanced all around him.

"Doesn't matter. We just need a place to hide him until we find out what is going on at home," Malcolm responded as he opened the backdoor seeing both Ellie and Caesar.

The three humans then assisted the heavy ape out of the back of the truck, Caesar no longer having the strength to support himself. They then were directed by the wounded chimpanzee to a particular house where they carried him in and set him down onto the couch.

Assisting his mother and father, Alex glanced around the room until his eyes fell upon some picture frames. Upon closer inspection the young boy's eyes widen and he quickly took the picture and hopped on over to where his father and mother was.

"Dad look!" Alexander exclaimed, showing his father the picture.

Staring down at the picture both Malcolm and Ellie's brow furrowed at what they saw. There within the picture frame was a smiling man whom had his head propped up on one hand while he was smiling down at a young chimpanzee in front of him. Curiously both Ellie's and Malcolm's questioning eyes traveled on over towards the wounded chimpanzee who only stared back at them, panting softly.

"We need to operate on him," Ellie finally said quietly, cutting the silence between all of them. "I don't have anything. There's a surgical kit back at the place, but that's-"

"I'll go," Malcolm cut in, his eyes still on their charge.

"Malcolm, it's not safe," Ellie said in a worried voice.

"He's the only one that can stop this Ellie," Malcolm responded, turning to face her.

Closing her eyes and breathing hard, Ellie nodded, knowing that Malcolm was right. If they were to even have a sliver of a chance to stop all of this then they needed to help Caesar in any way they can.

"Please be careful," Ellie whispered.

Malcolm reached on over and gave Ellie a hug before he turned his attention towards Alexander.

"Help Ellie and Caesar in anyway you can okay? I'll be back," Malcolm said to the teenager.

"You promise?" Alexander asked, hesitation, fear and worry laced within his voice, causing Malcolm to smile sadly at the boy.

"I promise," he responded as he patted Alexander on the shoulder before turning towards Caesar whom was observing all of them. "Stay strong Caesar. I'll be back as soon as I can," Malcolm assured the chimpanzee whom nodded once at him.

…

"Humans! You! Ape! Prisoner! Now!" You! Will know! Life in cage!" Koba bellowed, causing the apes around him to hoot in an uproar. "More humans! Out there! Go! Find them!" Koba he finished.

From among the grounds both Blue Eyes and Ash could see the bonobo yelling from his perch high up above the gate walls, madness seeming to overcome their uncles once more. Grunting, Blue Eyes jerked as one of the apes shoved him out of the way and followed the rest of the ape army as they headed off to find the humans. Ash however was faring no better as he dropped his gun when he too was shoved aside by a larger ape before he quickly picked it up and made it over to where Blue Eyes stood. The two young chimps then turned around and slowly made their way across the grounds, careful to avoid the others. They couldn't help but let their eyes wander on over to where the crying humans as they were all shoved too close together with no room to even move around.

"This wrong. Blue Eyes," Ash whispered quietly to which the young prince continued to stare before following the other apes slowly.

" _There is nothing we can do right now Ash, we have to find-_ " Blue Eyes started to gesture until his gaze fell upon an armored vehicle.

Tilting his head curiously, Blue Eyes made his way on over to where the vehicle was at and noticed several apes contained within it. Soon enough a familiar face with big flaps on the side of his head peered back.

"Maurice?" Blue Eyes gestured incredulously.

" _Father! Luca!_ " Ash signed frantically making a move to approach them until the orangutan signed for them to stop.

" _Koba says that we were too loyal to your father. Says that we are too kind to humans. Lock us up here,_ " Maurice explained slowly from behind the bars.

" _Protect each other. Keep yourselves safe,_ " Rocket signed from behind Maurice to both Ash and Blue Eyes.

Letting out a huff, Blue Eyes glanced back to where Koba was before turning back towards his uncles. He didn't know what to do. What should both he and Ash do? There was no one else now who could help them.

Whimpering, Ash wanted to approach his father, wanting the older ape to comfort him like he always would have but knew he couldn't. looking around at the ape guards that stood above the armored vehicle, Ash glanced back at Blue Eyes who seemed just as lost as he was. Hearing several more hoots and screeches behind them, Ash felt Blue Eyes tugging at his arm and quickly lead them away from his father and uncles. Glancing back Ash watched as the vehicle that contained his father soon disappeared as soon as they rounded the corner.

…

After Koba's order had been given, Pope walked up to the bonobo and stood next to him, overseeing at what he had accomplished. As his dark green eyes scoured the grounds below, his gaze soon fell upon the armored trucks that contained Caesar's followers.

" _Why haven't those apes been dealt with?_ " Pope questioned Koba.

"What do you mean?" Koba shot back.

"Take care of them! They will not follow Koba! They still follow Caesar!" Pope exclaimed while pointed towards the armored vehicle.

Koba stared at Pope for a long while and then widened his eyes at what the scarred chimpanzee was suggesting. He wanted to kill them. Baring his fangs at the other ape, Koba rose to his full height and glared down at Pope whom cowered slightly.

"Ape! Not kill. Ape!" Koba growled.

"But-"

"Silence! We will talk. No more. Of this," Koba grounded out at Pope who seemed to look hesitant for a moment before he lowered his head and offered a supplicating palm.

"Forgive… me… Koba..." Pope spoke slowly.

Letting out a deep breath, Koba swiped at Pope's open palm and the chimpanzee cautiously glanced back up towards him.

Deep in Pope's mind he was seething at Koba for making such a fool out of him. It was he that allowed the scarred bonobo to come into power and this was the thanks that he got? He will make the bonobo pay for shaming him in such a way in front of the other apes. As he looked at Koba his eyes then wandered upwards way above the human tower. As he stared at it, a thought suddenly occurred to him and it caused him to smile slowly. That was where Koba's little accident will occur! Smiling to himself, Pope glanced back at the scarred bonobo.

"Koba," Pope spoke softly, gaining the other ape's attention.

"What is it!"

" _Apes will have better view from up there,_ " Pope pointed, directing Koba's gaze up towards the top of the human tower. " _Apes can see humans all over. We should go up there,_ " Pope finished.

Koba glanced back at Pope and studied the scarred chimpanzee. The other ape did have a point from that height they do have a vantage point to locate any remnants of any humans whom are hiding within the city. Grunting, Koba nodded at Pope before he turned towards Grey.

" _Get the females, tell them to come here. Might not be safe for them in the forest anymore. Humans might go attack them,_ " he explained.

Grey bit his bottom lip as he glanced from Pope to Koba, unsure if this was a good idea but nodded anyways. He then gathered a few of his trusted scouts and informed them to go back into the forest to bring in the females from hiding.

During all this though Pope was glaring at the backside of both Koba and Grey before he felt a giant hand upon his shoulder. Turning around, Pope came face to face with Rex whom was frowning down at him.

" _You know we gorilla's do not climb as well as you smaller apes,_ " he signed.

" _Do not worry, my apes and I will take care of Koba and his followers. We will knock them out of the sky. I need you and Red to standby down here on the grounds,_ " Pope informed.

" _What about Caesar's loyal apes,_ " Rex asked as he side glanced at the armored truck to which Pope followed with his dark green eyes.

" _We will take care of them once we kill Koba,_ " he signed to the gorilla before hopping down from the ledge.

What Pope and Rex hadn't noticed though was that two beady green eyes had seen their exchange from afar.

...

Huffing and puffing slightly, Malcolm soon approached the street that lead down towards the side entrance of the colony. He halted when he heard screams and hid behind a car. Peeking over he could see several apes tossing several humans about and shoved them away, as if they were rounding them up for something. He had to find another way into the colony now since the streets were now being watched. As he looked around, Malcolm noticed the entrance to the Bart Subway station that practically lead underneath. That was it, his ticket way in without being noticed. Taking in a deep breath, Malcolm then dashed towards the entrance and quickly ran down the steps.

Soon enough, Malcolm slowly emerged from beneath the colony and cautiously looked around the corner. Finding it devoid of life, for now, he made a quick dash towards their their section of the colony. As soon as he got there, he looked around and found one of their backpacks. Emptying its contents, Malcolm went on over towards the medical supplies and shoved as much of the equipment, antibiotics and whatever else Ellie might need into the pack.

Malcolm's head shot around when he suddenly heard screaming and screeching right outside the window. Closing the drawers he approached the windows and sees apes corralling the humans again. He then noticed several apes approaching the apartment that he was in and that was the cue for him to leave.

Opening a door Malcolm quickly raced down a hallway as screams, hoots and shouts could be heard all around him. He was about to go down the stairs when he saw several dark shapes running on by right beneath it. Backtracking, Malcolm cursed as he ran down a hall and was about to burst through another door before he saw several more apes running right outside of it. Several rapports of gunfire cause a few holes to show up in the wall next to him, causing him to slip and duck for cover. Breathing heavily, Malcolm dragged the heavy bag behind him and quickly ducked within another apartment and pressed his back to the wall, praying to some force in the universe that he wasn't found out by the apes.

As he waited for the noises to eventually disappear, Malcolm peered his head around the corner and saw that it was once again silent, the noises now far off in the distance. Then something caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand and made his turn slowly around towards his other side. Malcolm's body froze when he noticed two figures with weapons in their hands staring back at him from the shadows. Heart pounding within chest, hands shaking slightly and breath caught in his throat, Malcolm could do nothing but merely stare at the two apes hidden within the dark.

Malcolm watched as the two figures slowly approached him and stepped into the beam of light. The first thing he noticed was the bright blue and green eyes that were staring back at him, one stern the other hesitant. Malcolm's eyes widen slightly when he noticed the blue eyed chimp, Caesar's son, slowly pointed the end of his gun barrel at him, anger set within his eyes. Taking in a deep breath, Malcolm shook his head at the young ape, hopefully to deter him from shooting him.

Malcolm and Blue Eyes stared at each other for a long quiet while, with the other young chimp, Ash, glancing back and forth between the two. Ash seemed to have signed something to Blue Eyes causing the prince to frown for a moment before he hoisted back his weapon onto his shoulder once more. Letting out a relieved breath, Malcolm slumped into the wall as silent tears emerged from his eyes and fell down his face. Begrudgingly, Blue Eyes turned around and started to walk away with Ash offering Malcolm a forlorn gaze before he too trailed after the other ape.

"Hey! Wait!" Malcolm called out weakly, causing Blue Eyes and Ash to stop in their tracks, glancing back at him from the sides. "Your f-, your father. He's alive," Malcolm gasped out.

He then watched as the two apes seemingly signed to one another before they glanced back his way. Just as before the two chimpanzees slowly emerged from the dark hallway and into the light once more.

"Show us."

…

Both Blue Eyes and Ash followed the human through the underground that lead them to the street back up above. As they silently followed Ash kept on glancing at his friend from the corner of his eye.

"What is it?" Blue Eyes finally spoke as he knuckle-walked after Malcolm.

"You still do not trust human?" Ash asked.

"What is there to trust? Humans killed my father," Blue Eyes responded with a frown.

"But the human says that your father is alive."

"Yes he did... But this could also be a trap…"

"Could be, but we still follow."

"You know I can hear you two talking right? And I am not lying or leading you two to a trap. I'm telling you guys the truth. Your father, Caesar, is alive I promise," Malcolm explained as he turned around to face the two young chimps.

Ash stared whilst Blue Eyes merely scowled back. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Malcolm turned back around and lead the way once more. He wasn't going to get through to Blue Eyes unless he showed the young ape exactly proof. The other, Ash if he recalled, was a tad more accepting of him.

Eventually the three finally found the house to which Caesar, Ellie and Alexander were at. Racing up the steps, Malcolm opened the door.

"I got it! How is he?" Malcolm asked as he handed the bag to Ellie.

Ellie was going to answer that Caesar was fine for now but paused when she saw two young chimpanzees trailing in after Malcolm.

Rounding the corner slowly Blue Eyes stared at each of the humans letting his gaze wander around the room until his sights finally fell upon a familiar figure. There on the couch, looking very weak and smiling warmly back up at him was his father.

The human didn't lie.

Slowly setting his gun down, Blue Eyes cautiously approached the older ape, touching his father's arm to make sure that he was not just seeing things.

"Your… Mother. Brother… Safe?" Caesar asked weakly, overjoyed to see his boy safe and sound with tears silently falling from his eyes.

" _For now,_ " Blue Eyes gestured, still not believing that his father was right in front of him while a smile graced the older chimp's face momentarily before he scrunched up in pain.

Upon noticing his father's discomfort, Blue Eyes gaze fell upon the gaping wound on the older chimps chest. Infuriated that his father was hurt, Blue Eyes quickly turned around and bared his fangs at the humans, causing them to gasp and take a step back from him.

"No," Blue Eyes heard his father spoke out behind him, causing him to turn around. "No… Not human…"

"Who father?" Blue Eyes asked.

"Ape… Pope," Caesar finally answered.

At this Blue Eyes eyes widen momentarily remembering the scarred chimpanzee by Koba's side, seeming to whisper things into the bonobo's ear.

"Caesar?" Ash said quietly as he knelt down next to Blue Eyes and the wounded ape.

"Ash!" Caesar breathed, happy to see Rocket's son as he reached out and took a hold of the young ape's shoulder.

The apes then turned their heads when they noticed Ellie approaching with the bag in her hands.

"Caesar. We need to do this now," Ellie explained as she started to pull out the medical supplies for the operation.

Caesar nodded at Ellie and then noticed Blue Eyes looking away, his face scrunched up in a deep frown, seemingly torn as well as frightened at what has happened all around him..

"Son." Caesar spoke up, catching Blue Eyes' attention before he raised his hand towards the younger chimpanzee.

Sniffing, Blue Eye reached out and took a hold of his father's hand as Ellie moved in to start operating on his father.

…

Apparently the human woman had sedated Caesar putting him a deep sleep so that he would not feel the pain while she worked on him. At first Blue Eyes and Ash had been worried but the two older humans had calmed them down. Only did the two young apes see Caesar still breathing did they calm down quite a bit and stayed while both Ellie and Malcolm worked on the unconscious chimpanzee. A long while later Ash and Blue Eyes watched as Ellie finished the last bit of stitches upon Caesar's wound before she turned to look at them.

"Let him rest alright you two," she said softly before gathering up her things and walked away with Malcolm trailing behind her.

While both he and Blue Eyes waited, Ash himself got up and decided to look around at his surroundings. He touched the small table, felt the other comfy chairs and finally wandered on over to where some square looking objects with little humans in them. As he looked at them his eyes widened suddenly when he saw one of the squared had a small human and a small ape within it. Picking it up, he quickly lumbered back on over to where Blue Eyes was at and showed him the object.

"Look!" Ash exclaimed quietly, handing the other chimp what he had found.

Blue Eyes glanced down at the object and slowly lifted it up towards his face. He knows what this thing is. His father had explained it to him once when they were alone and he had been curious about human things back then. If he could recall the object within his hand was called a picture and it is suppose to keep images of what it had captured or to something of that degree, he couldn't really recall. As he stared at the picture though, Blue Eyes noticed that the little ape within the frame looked very familiar. Looking back up at Ash and down at the picture again, Blue Eyes was going to ask his friend what he thought of it before his father abruptly woke up beside them, causing him to drop the picture frame.

"Father!" Blue Eyes spoke in a soft voice to calm down the older ape.

Upon seeing his son, Caesar's worried expression immediately soften, realizing that he was in good company. He then noticed Blue Eyes looking at him longingly, nose twitching all the while and eyes getting watery.

" _Father… I'm so sorry. For everything,_ " Blue Eyes gestured accompanied with a few whimpers.

"No. I am to blame," Caesar consoled his son whom seemed to think for a moment before glancing back at him.

" _But Pope betrayed you,_ " Blue Eyes gestured.

"I… Should have noticed him. But because he was ape. I always think. Apes were better than humans. I see now… How much like them we are," Caesar explained.

" _Father… I think he is using Koba,_ " Blue Eyes signed having already put two and two together a long while ago.

" _Koba is crazy. He tried to kill me!_ " Ash signed frantically to which Blue Eyes nodded before turning back to his father.

" _I was so afraid father. Afraid of what Koba would do... I wanted you there. Needed you but... I..._ " Blue Eyes tried to sign but closed his eyes tightly instead.

"Blue Eyes. Saved me," Ash spoke softly, gaining Caesar's attention and causing the other chimp to open his sky colored eyes. "Blue Eyes looked a lot like you when he did," he finished.

Upon hearing this, Caesar turned towards his son and gave the young ape the most warming of smiles he could muster.

"You stopped Koba? I am proud. of you. Son," Caesar breathed, reaching out and touching Blue Eyes on the head.

Blue Eyes smiled at the gesture, happy that he was able to make his father proud of him but quickly shook the thought away.

" _But I do not think Koba knows what Koba is doing,_ " Blue Eyes continued. " _Eyes change when he gets mad. Seems like different ape. Unaware._ "

"Where are they now?" Caesar asked, taking all this information in, worried now about Koba's… Condition and Pope's malicious usurpation.

" _We saw them climb on top of the human tower,_ " Blue Eyes explained, " _loyal apes all around them._ "

"And those. Who not follow?" Caesar inquired the two younger apes in front of him.

" _Prisoners_ ," Ash signed with a sniff. "My _father… Uncle Maurice, Uncle Luca..._ "

" _Fear makes apes follow… But when they see you, they will turn,_ " Blue Eyes finished.

"Not. If I am weak," Caesar explained before taking a deep breath. "Apes will always seek strongest branch… I must do something to stop them," Caesar finished trying to get up, hissing as his wound spiked up again while the two younger apes chuffed in unison.

"Father…"

"Uncle Caesar…"

Both Ash and Blue Eyes glanced at one another before they finally faced the older chimpanzee again.

"Let us help you," Blue Eyes finished for them.


	11. Chapter 11

After their talk, Blue Eyes watched as his father eventually fell back into a peaceful slumber due to the medicine that Ellie had given him. He had taken his father's hand into his own and rubbed the back of it with his thumb, hoping to bring his the older chimpanzee some semblance of peace with the small action. Off to the side Blue Eyes could hear Ash grunt at him, causing him to slowly face his good friend.

" _Blue Eyes, what are we going to do?_ " Ash asked in sign, making sure to not make any noise to wake his honorary uncle.

" _I don't know… But we have to free Maurice, your father, Luca and the others,_ " Blue Eyes responded, gently setting his father's hand over the older ape's chest, unsure of how to go about doing things himself.

" _Maybe we can ask other apes for help? One's that are not prisoner,_ " Ash suggested.

" _No. Too risky. We cannot afford to be found out,_ " Blue Eyes cautioned to which Ash thought about for a long moment before eventually agreeing with a nodding grunt.

While the two young chimps signed with one another they were briefly interrupted when the human boy - Alexander, stepped into the room, holding a platter containing two cups of water and some dried packaged food.

"Oh… Uh… My mom and dad said to bring you guys something to eat… In case you guys were hungry," the boy spoke softly, now noticing the sleeping Caesar.

Nervously the teenage entered the room and slowly approached the two chimps. Taking in a deep breath Alex then set the tray down onto the coffee table in front of them.

Ash grunted in thanks at the human boy as he reached on over and grabbed a handful of the dried goods and started eating away, seeming quite hungry. Blue Eyes on the other hand, kept his gaze upon Alexander, as he slowly reached on over and took the glass cup, sniffed at it before tipping it and letting the cool refreshing liquid slide down his throat. Blue Eyes then noticed the human taking a seat on the ground not too far in front of them, watching them with a curious gaze.

"I'm sorry," the boy suddenly spoke up in his still quiet voice, gaining the attention of both Blue Eyes and Ash. "About your dad, and everything."

At this Blue Eyes frowned sadly and glanced at the sleeping form of his father before nodding back at the human teenager, grunting once in thanks.

"I don't think we've actually met. I'm… My name's Alexander. You guys can just call me… Uh, Alex," the human, Alex greeted, hopeful in a way to somehow befriend them.

The two young chimps stared at the boy for a long while before Ash, finished swallowing the food within his mouth and grunted back quietly.

"Ash," Ash greeted in kind, tapping his chest with his knuckles a grin upon his face.

At this Alexander couldn't help but smile before he turned to look at Blue Eyes. Upon seeing the blue eyed chimp the boy's jovial expression quickly disappeared as he noticed the still grim stare that the other ape was giving him. Noticing this, Ash tapped the other chimp on the shoulder, surprising the other.

" _He is greeting us,_ " Ash gestured with a slight stern expression.

Blinking several times, Blue Eyes nodded slowly at his friend before turning towards the boy once more.

"Blue Eyes," Blue Eyes finally responded, noticing Alexander giving him a warm smile.

"Nice to met you two finally," Alexander said softly, eyeing the two.

Blue Eyes had just taken a bite out of a dried burrito ration before he noticed Alexander starring at him. Not exactly at him but more or less at the scars that ran across his cheek and chest. He observed the teenager looking at his scar in fascination that was until he caught his eyes and the human quickly looked away.

"How did you get those?" Alexander asked in a quiet voice, pulling his knees close towards him.

At first Alexander thought he had overstepped his bounds by asking the questioned but then he noticed Blue Eyes setting his food down back onto the table.

"Bear…" Blue Eyes responded quietly as he traced a hand over the scars.

Feeling the wounds across his chest, Blue Eyes looked away, down trodden as the memories of his hunt just a few days prior came rushing back to him. At the thought he furrowed his brow and deepened his frown. If only he had listened to his father back then, haven't been so defiant, then maybe he wouldn't have had these shameful scars on him.

"That's kinda cool," Alex suddenly spoke up, causing the two young chimps to look at him weirdly.

"Cool?" Ash asked, tilting his head at this strange new word.

"Cool. You know. Like awesome? Amazing?" Alex exclaimed to the chimpanzee with the white flecks marks upon his lips and shoulder.

The two you chimps glanced at one another and then back at Alexander to which the human teenager merely gave out a exasperated sigh.

"Oh man. You guys don't have those kinds of words huh?" Alex mused gaining more confused looks from the two chimps.

From down the hall both Ellie and Malcolm watched as Alexander excitedly explained to the two chimps of different words that they should use. While they in turn would ask what it would mean or how it was applied. Chuckling quietly amongst themselves both Ellie and Malcolm were just glad that Alex, Ash and Blue Eyes were able to warm up to each other and from the looks of it, start up a new friendship.

…

The next morning Blue Eyes woke up quietly and stretched his stiff limbs. Looking around he could see his father still sleeping upon the couch. Careful to not be as loud as possible, Blue Eyes got up and blinked groggily and noticed that the humans had made themselves a sleeping spot not too far off. Bending down, Blue Eyes shook Ash's shoulder, waking up his slightly snoring friend, whom woke up with an upstart. Blue Eyes placed a finger upon his lips, indicating Ash to be quiet before standing back up.

" _Come, we go now,_ " Blue Eyes gestured at Ash as he moved on over to grab his gun that he had set down.

Opening his mouth in a long yawn, Ash slowly got up and slowly followed Blue Eyes out of the house. Once outside, Ash took a moment to stretch out his limbs before he heaved out a breath. He didn't like what he and Blue Eyes were going to do, but it had to be done if they were going to save their friends and family.

Glancing at each other both Blue Eyes and Ash nodded, set on going with the plan and moved out into the streets. The two young chimps observed the surrounding areas just in case there were any ape patrols that made it all the way out here before they quickly moved on down the street.

"Hey! Where are you two going?" a slightly sleepy voice called out to the young apes.

Stopping in their tracks and turning to face who had called out to them, Ash and Blue Eyes were quite surprised when they say a groggy Malcolm running after them.

"We go help friends," Blue Eyes responded as soon as the man reached them.

"Well if you two are going then I'm coming too-"

"No!" Blue Eyes cut Malcolm off quickly. "Too dangerous for human!"

"But-"

"If apes find human. Human will be in danger. Stay," Ash consoled.

Looking back and forth at the two apes, seeing the determination within their eyes made Malcolm take in a deep breath. He couldn't help but agree with them. He would not put only himself in danger but if the other apes were to find out that both Ash and Blue Eyes were traveling with him that could possibly pose a danger to them as well. After a while Malcolm released his held breath and nodded at the two chimps. For ones so young such as these two, they were pretty brave.

"Right. Only you two can do this…" He responded as he looked around before setting his sights back onto the two of them.

Kneeling down on one knee, Malcolm the slowly reached out, placing both of his hands upon each of their shoulders.

"You two be careful alright?" Malcolm said to the two earnestly, wishing them all the luck in the world.

At Malcolm's words, Blue Eyes reached up and placed his hand over the man's, grunting with a nod whilst Ash did the same. Standing back up Malcolm nodded at the two and with that the chimpanzees bounded down the street, soon disappearing from sight the moment they rounded a corner.

"Be safe you two."

…

Later that afternoon Koba stared up at the human tower contemplating on what to do with the humans as their screams and cries have not yet died down once. Heaving out a irritated sigh, he made his way on over to where the prisoners were at, having had enough of the humans and their pathetic cries for the moment. As he approached, Koba peered inside seeing the shapes and figures of those belonging to Luca, Maurice and Rocket looking miserable as ever with their hands bound. He did not want to do this to them but they left him no choice when they refused to follow his orders to imprison the humans. As he stood there Koba's good eye caught the sight of Maurice who noticed him, looked around and beckoned him over. Curious, Koba then knuckle-walked towards the orangutan, standing just outside of the window from the other ape.

"Maurice," Koba grunted.

" _Koba,_ " Maurice signed back.

" _What do you want?_ " Koba gestured, wondering why the orangutan had called him over.

" _Koba… You are in danger,_ " Maurice warned the scarred bonobo, causing Koba to tilt his head in confusion.

" _Danger? What danger?_ "

" _Danger… From Pope._ "

" _Pope?_ "

" _Pope is not good ape. He plans to kill you._ " Maurice signed worriedly, causing the scarred bonobo to choke and take a step back.

" _And you know this how?_ " Koba inquired, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

" _I see him. Hand speak. Talked behind you in secret with other apes,_ " Maurice informed.

At this Koba scoffed, giving the orangutan an incredulous look.

" _You think your lies are going to persuade me to free you?_ " Koba shot back.

" _No lie Koba. I saw. I fear for you my friend._ " Maurice signed solemnly.

"Ape. Not Kill. Ape," Koba hissed at Maurice who frowned back at him.

" _Pope has been nothing but loyal to me! Agreed with me and listened to me about the humans. Unlike Caesar who trusted the humans. Now look where he is at? Gone! Dead! Because he allowed the humans to stay and after they got their power back they shot and killed him!_ " Koba signed furiously, shoulders rising and falling with each heave.

At this, Maurice frowned at his damaged friend. Of course they were all affected by Caesar's sudden demise, the bonobo more so than the other apes for reasons that only the inquisitive eye can see.

" _I know you love Caesar, Koba… We all do. He was brother to all of us. But do not let your hatred of humans cloud your mind and judgment friend. Pope is using you for his own gain. After that I fear he is going to kill you._ " Maurice pleaded.

With a huff, Koba took a step back away from the orangutan, not knowing what to think or feel. Was the orangutan telling him the truth? Or was Maurice lying to him, disrupting his alliance with Pope so that he could let them free? He wasn't so sure.

" _Please friend,_ " Maurice signed desperately, concern written all over his face.

"Enough!" Koba suddenly bellowed slamming a fist upon the metal bars of the armored vehicle, silencing the orangutan.

With that being said the scarred bonobo turned around and barked an order for the apes to keep an eye on their prisoners before he bounded away.

" _Probably not best to say that to say that to him,_ " Luca gestured to Maurice.

" _I thought I could get through to him… I fear for him,_ " Maurice signed back at the gorilla with a deep sad grumble within his throat sack.

" _Nothing to do now…_ " Rocket quietly hooted as they could only wait for the inevitable.

…

Sneaking back in with the other apes was easy enough for both Ash and Blue Eyes. The two young chimps reporting that they could not locate any humans during their supposed patrol. Keeping a lookout Blue Eyes counted about five to six apes overseeing the armored vehicle that contained their friends and uncles. While the two were chimps were doing reconnaissance they finally found a few familiar faces.

" _Shell? Flint?_ " Ash gestured to the two chimpanzees as he approached them.

" _Ash? Blue Eyes? Where have you two been?_ " Shell asked, scratching at his one white ear.

" _We've been sent on patrol. What is going on?_ " Blue Eyes questioned, looking around.

" _You did not hear? Koba has called for the females and young ones. They are suppose to be here by tomorrow morning,_ " Flint answered.

" _Why?_ " Ash questioned.

" _Says that females might be in danger if some humans decide to go into the forest. Said that they were safer here with us in human city,_ " Shell responded causing both Ash and Blue Eyes to warily glance at each other.

" _Is Koba up in the tower right now? With Pope?_ " Ash asked both Shell and Flint.

" _With who?_ " Shell questioned.

" _Pope?_ " Ash signed before he made the cross symbol and indicating it over the left side of his face, seeing the other two chimp's eyes widen in understanding.

" _Yes he is with Koba,_ " Shell signed.

" _I saw Koba earlier down by prisoners but that was only for a bit. Seemed to be talking to one of them before he went back up to the tower,_ " Flint idly responded while he shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

At this news both Ash and Blue Eyes stared at each other, slowly coming to the same conclusion of what they needed to do in order to save their friends and family.

...

Later in the evening, Maurice sat in the armored bus, waiting for his inevitable end along with the others. Both he and Rocket had refused to pledge themselves to Koba's way in hunting down the humans. Luca and the other apes were most likely imprisoned due to suspicion and or that they too refused to follow what Koba was doing or rather what Pope had made Koba do. Gazing out at the tower Maurice and the others could hear gunfire that came from it all day. Most likely the apes shooting down any poor straggling humans that they saw below or maybe for just the pleasure of shooting, enjoying their reign of power over the humans.

Maurice, Rocket and Luca could see some of the apes outside signing to each other. It was then they had learn that Koba had called upon the females and they were most likely coming into the human city by tomorrow morning.

" _What is he doing?!_ " Rocket signed with a huff as he saw the other apes signing to each other.

" _Calm down Rocket, we do not know what he is planning,_ " Luca tried to calm the agitated bald chimp.

" _If Koba hate humans so much then why move the females and young ones into the human city!_ " Rocket nearly barked while signing back at Luca.

With a sigh, Maurice had notice the apes bringing in a new batch of humans to be thrown into the pen with the others. Some of the humans had tried to fight or resisted but that was met with retaliation from the apes as they beat the humans until they were nearly dead or moving no longer. Still though the apes would toss the human into the pen, alive or not before locking it up again. Disgusted at what the apes had become, Maurice could not bear to watch anymore and turn away.

It was then something had caught the orangutan's attention. There drawn into the grime of the window was Caesar's trademark emblem, his old friend's symbol of home. He then nudged at Rocket, Luca and the others before indicating with a nod towards the emblem.

Curiously all the prisoner apes stared at the design, Caesar's symbol of hope and started to look around to see who had drawn it. After a little bit of searching Luca had grunted, gaining all of their attention and pointed at the mirror. Peering at the mirror the apes could make out two distinct shapes hiding behind the armored bus where the guards could not see them. Those figures belonging to both Blue Eyes and Ash, the young apes each raising a finger to their lips. Maurice, Rocket and Luca nodded in response as they kept on the lookout.

" _We need to talk,_ " Blue Eyes signed to his uncles and fellow apes.

" _Yes but not now. Very dangerous,_ " Maurice warned the two youngsters indicating with a head nod towards the gates where the apes were still keeping watch.

" _Then later,_ " Ash quickly signed, causing Maurice and the others to give them questioning looks.

" _I have a plan…_ " Blue Eyes finally informed.

It wasn't until nightfall when the plan was set into motion. Ash was peeking out from the side of the vehicles as the apes whom were keeping the humans in line, shot their guns into the air to quiet them. Turning back around the young chimp indicated towards Blue Eyes.

" _Ready._ "

Blue Eyes nodded back at Ash and turned to look at Maurice and the others, giving them the signal. Instantly the apes started to bang around within the vehicle, drawing the attention of ape guards. Nearing the vehicle they all peered inside to see what all the fuss was about. Suddenly they were all grabbed by the prisoners and were held onto tightly as the vehicle started to rock back and forth as the apes inside created momentum. Within an instant the vehicle fell upon the ape guards and Blue Eyes quickly climbed on top of the armored bus, ripping the door off from its hinges.

Meanwhile Ash had run to where the humans were and unlocked the gate. The humans all stared at him anxiously as if waiting for him to shoot them. Instead the young chimpanzee surprised them instead.

"Run! Go!" Ash barked as he pointed behind him towards the open streets.

The humans hesitated but didn't need to be told twice as they all emerged from the confines of their prison, stampeding out into the plaza and scattering throughout all of the streets. Screams and gunfire followed suit as the apes from above the viewing bridge shot down at the truck where Blue Eyes was helping the other apes out. Noticing this, Ash ran down the side and opened fire with his gun, causing the apes above to duck for cover. As this went on the Ash had glanced back quickly to see Blue Eyes helping out the last of the apes from the armored bus.

"Ash go!" Blue Eyes called out as he jumped down and disappeared into the crowd of humans.

Following suit Ash turned around and fired one last time, causing the apes above to take cover before he too disappeared into the massive crowd.

Following Blue Eyes' directions all of the apes that were still loyal to Caesar met up by the subway entrance. Standing at the archway and glancing around was none other the young ape himself who kept a watchful eye just in case they were found out.

Just then their last ape - Ash, finally arrived, panting and skittishly looking behind him as the humans provided a source of distraction for their getaway. Upon noticing his son, Rocket quickly approached and both of the chimpanzee's touched their foreheads together at their reunion.

"Okay!" Ash breathed once he and his father had reunited and stood up next to Blue Eyes.

" _What do we do now?_ " Maurice asked the two youngsters.

"Follow us," Blue Eyes signed back to the orangutan and turned to the other apes.

At this Maurice couldn't help but think how both Blue Eyes and Ash had changed so much. The former ape, instead of taking the violent approach as Koba would have, was now acting more like his father would. The son of Caesar, strong, intelligent and good. Whereas Ash was starting to look like his father as well - Rocket, strong, brave and loyal. With this in mind Maurice and the other apes were happy to follow the two youngsters as they lead the way through the subway tunnels.

…

Opening his eyes slowly, Malcolm rested and arm over his forehead, wondering if the two chimps were doing alright. They had been gone for most of the day and was beginning to worry for their well being. As he laid there with his wife and child, Malcolm looked around and noticed that Caesar was not where he should be. Quickly sitting up from his spot, Malcolm looked for the ape and found no trace of the chimpanzee anywhere. Worry setting within his chest the man got up and quickly scoured around for the missing ape.

"Cea-" Malcolm was about to call out but stopped when he heard movement upstairs.

Quietly, Malcolm found the stairway and ascended it. Getting to the top Malcolm glanced into the opened rooms to find them all empty. It wasn't until he started to hear what sounded like voices coming from the attic where he could now see a folding ladder. Entering the attic, Malcolm was met with awe and wonder as he saw the room. It looked like it used to be a child's bedroom, full of toys, drawings, coloring utensils, building blocks, a piano and a small bed that littered all over the place. On that bed he could see the backside of the ape he's been looking for.

"Caesar look."

"Apple."

"Apple."

"Good."

"Home."

"Home."

"Home."

"Yes. This is your home. Your home," the kind voice emitted from the small speaker from the camera recorder.

"Good. Good. That's good."

The last thing Malcolm heard was the gentle laugh from the audio and the beep of the cam recorder as it signaled the end of the footage, the viewfinder going dark and dim. Watching Caesar, Malcolm could see the sad look the ape had as he closed the screen portion flap and set the electronic device down gently onto the bed beside him. Taking in a deep breath, Malcolm knew that this was a private moment and decided to back away but the floor had creaked underneath him, causing the chimpanzee to look his way.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude," he apologized quickly, seeing the indifference upon Caesar's face.

Kicking himself mentally Malcolm gritted his teeth for a moment before he slowly approached the wounded chimpanzee who was still looking at him. Feeling embarrassed for intruding Malcolm had decided to change the subject of matter.

"It's been a whole day. Your son and his friend is not back yet?" he asked, noticing Caesar cast his eyes downwards.

Great. Nice going Malcolm, now you've gone and reminded Caesar that his son was out there where danger was lurking everywhere.

"Hey, I'm sure they're okay. Your son and his friend are pretty bright," Malcolm tried to recover but seemed like he was failing miserably at it.

Heaving out a sigh, Malcolm then decided to change the subject once more.

"Who was that? On the video?" Malcolm asked hesitantly, hoping to keep Caesar's mind off ill things.

There was a long pause and Malcolm thought that the ape would never answer him, that was until Caesar's voice suddenly broke the silence.

"A good man."

After a breath Caesar then turned back to look up at Malcolm.

"Like you."

Upon hearing this Malcolm froze. He could see the sincerity within Caesar's eyes, even through the darkness but knew that the ape had meant it. Letting out a small huff, Malcolm smiles warmly in return.

"I'm pretty sure he was," Malcolm spoke softly as he approached Caesar, "especially if he raised a great person like you."

This time it was Caesar's turn to have a look of surprise upon his face. Malcolm was pretty sure that the ape hadn't been complimented by another human before, or even recognize as another person. To Malcolm however the ape before him has more than earned it. He just wished that so many people out there could have the same views as he did to see these apes as equals and not as something below them.

Just then they both heard the familiar low calls of several apes outside. Caesar slowly got up from his old bed and approached the window with Malcolm following. There down on the ground below was his son, Blue Eyes, Ash, Maurice, Rocket, Luca and the rest of the apes that were still loyal to him. Caesar had never been more proud of his son as well as Ash. Blue Eyes and Ash was able to free all of their followers and guide them back to him safely, things was looking up for them indeed.

"See, pretty bright kids," Malcolm said softly from behind, smiling along with Caesar.

Soon enough both Caesar and Malcolm emerged from within the house and greeted everyone there, all awed that he had survived from being shot and falling from such a height. After their initial greeting though, Caesar turned towards Blue Eyes and brought their foreheads together.

"I am so proud of you son," Caesar breathed quietly with his eyes closed, feeling Blue Eyes nodding in return.

"Thank you father," Blue Eyes responded quietly.

After they both had broke away from each other, Blue Eyes glanced at his uncles and the other apes behind him before turning towards his father again.

" _Father, Koba has sent for the young and females. Maurice also said that Koba is also in danger! Pope plans to kill him,_ " Blue Eyes signed urgently.

Upon seeing this, Caesar's heart dropped. Why would Koba do such a thing? And now his friend was in dire danger of losing his life as well? This did not bode well and they could not wait any longer.

"We go. Now!" Caesar ushered as he whipped around to look up at Malcolm.

* * *

 **Honestly I did not expect this chapter to be as long as it was but it's whatever I suppose. Enjoy and if you liked it or have any questions please do post a comment below! Thank you!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the long wait but here is Chapter 12!**

 **I also want to give a shoutout to my reviewers as you all have kept my hopes and spirits up when writing this. I want to say that without you guys and gals that this story might not have been possible.**

 **Thank you...**

* * *

Sitting at the top of the tower and alone on a girder was Koba whom peered down at the grounds below, a scowl upon his face. Grey had come to him earlier and notified him that a few apes had freed their ape prisoners as well as the humans that they've all had captured during the night. Only one ape was brave enough to do that and Koba had now regretted of not locking the young ape up as well. But it did not matter, they'll eventually be found again sooner or later.

Then there was the matter of Maurice and what the orangutan had informed him earlier. Was it true? Was Pope really plotting something against him behind his back? He had noticed that some of the apes would give him silent stares but he didn't think much of it. Actually come to think of it, he wasn't really thinking much at all. After he had learned about the humans having killed Caesar, Koba himself had been doing nothing but acting on pure primal instincts. Attacking the humans that had taken away Caesar from them… From him. Grunting Koba shook his head to clear his raging thoughts.

Closing his eyes Koba thought long and hard but nothing was coming to mind. All he could feel was the rage and hatred that was boiling over within. Who was he suppose to trust? Pope or Maurice? A fellow ape whom he's never talked to before and agree in his ideals? Or an old friend who might be whispering lies to him and was now free, out there somewhere. Growling Koba pressed the ends of his fingers into his head to hopefully pacify these thoughts, however they didn't go away. Why was he having such conflicted feelings? It was driving him insane. He wasn't really being used was he? He had to talk to Pope and let things settle between the both of them. With a ragged huff, Koba glanced around and found his target just a few feet away, seeming to be signing with some other apes. With a grunt, Koba leaped over the rails and slowly walked over towards the scarred chimp.

"Pope!" Koba barked, gaining the attention of the scarred chimpanzee and a few others around them.

" _Yes Koba?_ " Pope gestured back.

" _We need to talk,_ " Koba signed back, his milky white and green eyes locking with Pope's.

…

"Okay, I'm going to lead them through the subway tunnels. You two stay here," Malcolm spoke quickly, turning towards Ellie and giving her a kiss.

"I love you," Ellie responded before she turned to face Caesar and the others. "You all be careful too you hear?" she finished reaching out and taking Caesar's hand into hers.

Caesar nodded and felt Ellie hesitantly letting go of his hand as he watched Malcolm quickly rushed inside the house and came back out with a giant flashlight.

"It's pretty dark in there so we're going to need this," he explained.

…

Everything was laid out as planned and most of the apes that were on his side are already in position. This was the moment Pope had been waiting for the moment to strike back at Koba and end his reign. Going over the last bits of his plan with a couple more chimps, Koba's voice suddenly cut through the wispy winds around them, making them all jump and turn to face the scarred bonobo.

"Leave us," Pope spoke quietly to the two apes beside him before fully facing Koba.

" _Yes, Koba?_ " Pope had signed at the bonobo, noticing the irked face the other ape was sporting.

" _We need to talk,_ " Koba gestured back, now standing in front of Pope staring him straight in the eyes.

Pope stared back at Koba and closed his eyes for a moment before breathing out a long drawn out sigh.

" _What do you want to talk about?_ " Pope asked.

" _It is about Stone… I want to know how he died…_ " Koba signed a sadden look forming on his face briefly before it hardened once more.

" _I told you, human killed him. Almost killed me too,_ " Pope explained yet again, seeming irked by the question.

"How?" Koba continued causing Pope to tilt his head slightly.

" _Human shot him… a lot of times. Then human shot me too,_ " Pope gestured by showing Koba his shoulder wound which was lightly grazed.

Koba stared at Pope for a long moment as if searching for something before he relaxed his features and nodded understandingly. The scarred bonobo then heaved out a long drawn out breath as he looked away, slinging his gun onto his back and stared off into the distance with just the slight wisps of the winds blowing at their dark fur. At this Pope followed Koba's gaze and he too stared off at the dark waters that extended as far as the eyes can see.

"One," Koba uttered the simple word so suddenly after a long while, that Pope had almost missed what he had said.

"What?"

"One. Gun shot... Apes. Only heard. One gunshot," Koba repeated, slowly rounding his head back towards Pope.

The scarred chimpanzee blinked several times, not understanding what Koba was saying. One gunshot? What did he mean one gunshot? As Pope mulled on what Koba had said he suddenly froze up, now realizing what Koba had meant.

Throughout the forest it was extremely uncommon for the apes to hear the sound of a gun firing off. The man made sound could be heard miles away since the forest is silent most of the time and once that terrible noise breaks the calm the apes were usually quick to react.

"Pope said. That Stone was shot... Many times," Koba growled taking a step forward, causing the scarred chimpanzee to take a step back.

"Pope said. He was shot. By human," Koba continued, still advancing.

"But apes only heard. One gunshot. One gunshot and it killed. Only one ape," Koba grounded out as Pope's back rubbed up against the side of some scaffolds.

"Only apes that had guns were Grey… Stone… You… And me," Koba spoke more quietly now as he gestured with his free hand at the apes that had weapons.

While Koba had signed, Pope could see the unbridled fury and anger swirling within the bonobo's good eye. This was not good for Pope, if this is indeed what he thought it was then he could lose everything, right here and right now. Koba then surprised Pope when he leaned in and brought his mouth towards the scarred chimpanzee's left ear.

"Did Pope kill Stone? Shoot Caesar?" Koba whispered before slowly leaning back, keeping his eyes on the scarred chimpanzee all the while.

Pope bit the bottom of his lip. He hadn't expect Koba to suddenly figure out something about him so soon. No matter what he would do or say at this moment, there is no denying that Koba had been right about him. Even if he had used a different weapon to frame the humans there was the glaring factor that the gunshot would have reached throughout the forest, alerting the apes of their presence. How could he have forgotten that small detail? Taking a deep breath, closing his eyes tightly and then opening them back up, Pope kept his eyes on Koba who had been patiently waiting for his answer.

"Koba I-"

"Tell me!" Koba bellowed, baring his fangs at the shocked chimpanzee.

Breathing heavily with wide dark green eyes, Pope quickly looked around and saw that many of the apes were now staring at both of them. Pope knew those observing gazes. It was the look of anticipation of watching two apes settling their disagreements with a fight. The victor, whomever it may be, will command the respect of all the surrounding apes. Pope's plan to sway most of the apes to his side had suddenly escaped from his grasp as Koba had issued a challenge on him.

Letting his dark green eyes fall back onto Koba's furious looking ones, anger slowly started to boil within Pope as well. This was it, the moment where the apes will unanimously decide who to follow as their new ruler and leader. Luckily for Pope he had be reserving his strength, Koba on the other hand was still weary from the battle with the humans.

"I. Kill. Both of them!" Pope answered lowly before he propelled himself at Koba.

…

The soft patter of footsteps coupled with slight panting noises echoed quietly through the subway tunnels as Malcolm led Caesar and the rest of the apes through it.

"You guys okay?" Malcolm asked, gaining several small hoots in return from the apes that followed him but more or less a small grunt from Caesar himself.

That question of course was mostly directed at the ape leader. It had only been a day at least since Ellie had extracted that lodged bullet within the chimp's chest and to find out that Caesar was sort of keeping up was quite astonishing. _Apes sure are a lot more durable that we humans_. Malcolm had thought to himself as he kept on leading the way. Just then several shots of gunfire echoed all around them, causing them all to briskly take cover. Oh no were they found out?

"Who's there?! If you're human you better say so!" a voice called from the end of the tunnel.

"It's me! It's Malcolm! Don't shoot!" Malcolm called over his shoulder before glancing back down at the apes in front of him.

Now what? They can't all take the exit ladder that ran underneath the tower anymore as it was guarded by some people now. Looking around quickly for an alternative route Malcolm's eyes soon fell upon the access stairs that lead up towards the street several feet away. It was risky but they had no other choice.

"The stairs! Take the stairs. They'll bring you all around and up under the street, okay? Go," Malcolm ushered towards Caesar and the other apes.

Caesar, his son and every other apes glanced at one another taking note of what they needed to do.

"Thank you," Caesar breathed, turning back to look up at Malcolm.

"Trust," Malcolm answered with a warm smile.

He then watched as Caesar lead the apes silently up the stairwell that lead right up towards the station that would lead them out into the streets.

"Okay I'm coming out! Don't shoot!" Malcolm called back over his shoulder as he watched the last of the apes disappear from view before he turned around and hesitantly walked down the tunnel.

…

Making their way out into the open streets, Caesar and the rest of the apes glanced around to see if there were any patrols that would see them. Surprisingly the grounds were devoid of any type of sound, except the sudden spiking noise of hoots and howls coming from high above the tower.

" _What do you think is going on up there?_ " Rocket asked as he stood next to his good friend.

" _I do not know. But does not sound well,_ " Caesar responded.

" _Could be trouble,_ " Maurice jumped in.

" _Let us hurry then,_ " Luca ushered.

With that said the apes all entered through the gates of the human colony and gingerly looked around. Caesar then pointed at the lot of them and directed them to all start climbing.

"Father?" Blue Eyes paused momentarily when he saw the older ape bracing himself before taking a hold of the ladder.

"I'm fine!" Caesar grunted out catching his breath for a moment as he glanced back at his son.

The two stared at each other for a long while as the apes around them had started to already climb. Closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, Caesar stood there for a moment, bracing himself of what he might need to do once he had gotten up there at the tower. Opening back up his eyes, Caesar nodded once at his son and began to ascend with the rest of the apes.

…

Koba had not anticipated the sudden attack from Pope when the scarred chimpanzee tackled into him, knocking him backwards and landing on the ground with a thud. He looked towards his right as his gun slid away from him and returned his sights back at Pope. The chimpanzee raised both of his arms above his head and brought them down screaming and howling all the while. Reflexively, Koba brought his arms up and protected his face as Pope's heavy blows struck him.

I. Kill. Both of them!

Pope's words kept on repeating itself over and over again within Koba's mind as he laid there, taking in the blows that Pope was pummeling him with. Maurice had been right. His friend, his old friend had tried to warn him and he didn't listen, all because he was filled with hate and anger, and it had indeed blinded him. The scarred chimpanzee had manipulated him, lied to him and used him for his own gains. How could have he'd been so stupid to be used by Pope. He should have noticed it when the scarred chimpanzee had joined his band. With this thought in mind while getting beaten, a raging fire suddenly exploded within Koba, causing him to snap.

With a mighty roar, Koba had brought his feet right under the ape above him and thrust them upwards, kicking Pope hard in the chest. Surprised by this action, Pope had the air knocked out of his lungs as he flew backwards and crashed hard into the scaffolds. Trying to recover, Pope got up as quickly as he could only to see Koba roaring as the bonobo flew at him, slamming into him with a loud crunch, knocking him back down onto the ground. Koba then proceeded to beat down upon Pope whom curled into a fetal position to protect his face and side. Seeing nothing but red, Koba continued his assault, balling up his fists and slamming them down onto any vulnerable part of Pope's body. Pope then manage to escape as he too used the same technique that Koba had used on him and kicked the raging bonobo off of him. The two apes then stood back up and slowly circled one another.

Around them the assembled apes all started to screech and hoot, chanting at the two fighters with their cries to give them strength. As they all watched both Pope and Koba suddenly charged at each other again, gaining another bout of hoots and cries from their spectators that hung on the rafters, beams, and scaffolds of the unfinished tower. Koba and Pope grappled, bit, struck, kicked and swung, leaped and punched at each other as they raced across the unfinished tower floor, with many of the apes getting out of their way

It was at this point that Pope noticed that he was losing ground as he fought with the other ape. Skirting away from the raging Koba, Pope dodged another swing from the scarred bonobo and took to observing as he retreated slightly. Koba was fighting incredulously hard, his swings and blows fueled by hate, anger and something primal. Pope himself was strong as well but by not being much of a seasoned warrior and hunter as Koba was he was clearly at a disadvantage when going against the scarred bonobo. Every time that Pope would swing and grapple with Koba he could feel his strength and stamina wane just a little further, his breathing becoming harsher and this concerned him. Whereas Koba's blows would become stronger, be a little faster and a bit more unpredictable. Wiping away at his snout, Pope could see blood on the back of his hand, he would need to finish this fight fast, lest he lose the chance to rightfully rule his apes.

Hearing Koba's scream, Pope glanced back up at the scarred bonobo that was running at him. Glancing around quickly, Pope finally noticed the giant scaffolding behind him with several apes above him. With a cry, Pope took a hold of the structure and pushed it towards Koba, tipping the thing, causing many of the apes upon it off lest they wanted to fall towards their doom. As the frame fell towards the scarred bonobo, Koba had not anticipated this and could only look as the configuration made of wood and metal slammed on top of him, breaking into many pieces. Pope pant laughed with glee as Koba disappeared underneath the debris. However his joy was short lived as Koba burst from the remains of the scaffold and stood there, panting.

As Pope and the apes all watched Koba they shuddered at the sight of the bonobo. New scars riddled Koba's already mutilated body with a large one running down the left side of the ape's torso. That was not what had caused Pope and the other apes to shrink back though, they were awed and frightened at the otherworldly wild expression that was upon Koba's face that had streams of blood running down it from a fresh open cut wound at the top of his head.

Pope's eyes widened when Koba slowly turned his face towards him, the wild green and milky blood covered eye staring back at him. Frozen with fear, Pope didn't even notice it when Koba had moved swiftly and tackled him onto the hard cemented ground. Before he realized what had happened it was already too late as he saw fangs baring down at him and fists raised up on high before they came crashing down.

Koba didn't know how long he was pummeling the flesh of meat beneath him all he knew that this ape was the main cause of his suffering. All the lies, manipulation, pain, shame, guilt and hurt were powering each and every single one one of his strikes. He didn't even care about the sacred law anymore, Pope was going to pay for what he did to him and his Caesar with blood. Looking around Koba then noticed a broken piece of rebar with a sharp point at the end. Leaning over he took a hold of the metal object and lifted it over his head, the sharp end pointing downwards and yelled.

…

Nearing the top, Caesar heaved out a tired breath as he lifted himself up onto the last ledge of the tower with Luca and Rocket supporting him. He waved a thanks to the two apes and noticed Blue Eyes, Ash and Maurice a few ways away, seeming as if they were watching something. Weakly walking towards the three, Caesar placed a hand upon his son's shoulder, causing Blue Eyes to look at him before quickly glancing back to whatever he was watching. Following his son's gaze Caesar's eyes widened.

There across the giant girder, at the other end of the tower was Koba, the bonobo screaming and howling as he swung wildly at a chimpanzee beneath him. What was shocking, was that the scarred bonobo himself was covered in blood that leaked from the new set of wounds that ran all over his body, making him look like a raging monster as he struck at the ape beneath him. Blue Eyes was correct, something within Koba had changed him, made him seem like a different ape. The sight Koba reminded them of what they were still capable of, a raging primal instinct that could be unleashed at anytime if they were not careful on how to control it.

As Caesar and the other apes watched, his eyes widened when he saw Koba standing up, reaching down to the side and picked something up off from the ground. Eyes widening in horror, Caesar knew what the ape was about to do and he had to stop him before it was too late.

...

"Koba!"

At the sound of his name being called out, Koba suddenly froze with him still holding the metal bar over his head. Breathing out harshly, Koba blinked several times as his anger induced haze slowly left him. He recognized that voice, no other ape had that commanding booming bellow that he had come to admire and love.

Slowly lowering his raised hands down to his sides, Koba hesitantly turned around from where he was standing over on Pope. At the sight of fierce green and golden speckled eyes meeting his singular green and milky white one, Koba's breath caught within his throat. It couldn't be? It just couldn't but there he was - Caesar, standing tall and strong with the apes that were all loyal to him at the other side of the tower.

Looking back down at the pathetic excuse of an ape beneath him, Koba fully turned towards Caesar and approached the chimpanzee, nimbly walking across the girder. As the bonobo approached he noticed Rocket taking a step forward as if to go at him but Caesar held out his arms to stop the angry looking bald chimp. With that, Caesar then started to move forward, placing a feet upon the girder as well and approached Koba. Halting just in front of Caesar, Koba's one good eyes looked up and down at the chimpanzee as if he were seeing a ghost. Hesitantly Koba reached out towards the ape king and placed a knuckle over the shooting star birthmark upon Caesar's chest, grunt panting all the while.

"C-Caesar?" the scarred and bloodied bonobo breathed in astonishment.

"Koba," Caesar responded, noticing the ape in front of him flinch at the mention of his name again before relaxing.

"How?" Koba asked in wonder.

"Help. friends," Caesar answered.

Blinking several times, Koba searched his friend's eyes and knew that Caesar was telling him the truth. Koba's good eye then wandered on down to where he saw the wound upon Caesar's chest. Reaching up again, Koba hovered a finger over the stitched wound and immediately his face turned into a scowl before he turned back around to glare at Pope whom was now propped up on his elbows and dressing his wounds. With a snarl Koba quickly signed to a couple of apes to keep Pope from escaping and stomped his way back towards the wounded ape who noticed him and pathetically scampered away only to be blocked by several chimps.

"Koba!" Caesar called out from behind.

Koba froze at Caesar's words and closed his eyes tightly before opening them back up and turned to face his friend.

"Why?!" Koba barked, fangs baring.

"You've done enough Koba. Stand. Down," Caesar ordered, hoping that the bonobo would just listen to him.

Huffing in confusion, Koba tilted his head at Caesar before he pointed an accusing finger at Pope behind him.

"Tried. To kill you," Koba grunted in a incredulous voice.

Caesar took in a long breath and looked up at the apes all around them before he closed his eyes. He knew what Koba meant when had pointed at Pope but killing each other would not solve anything. They had to think of a way to punish Pope of course but Caesar had to win back the apes to his side and put a stop to all this madness. The thing was though, the apes were torn between following him again and following Koba. Opening back up his eyes, Caesar stared down Koba with hardened eyes.

"I understand. But. We have to stop this. Pope not important right now Koba. We have to make peace with humans. Stop all this," Caesar warned, hoping to speak some sense into Koba.

Koba stared back at Caesar quizzically with something burning within him again. Did he not understand the situation at the moment? Did he not always think to maybe put his needs before other apes sometimes? This was an attribute that irked Koba and it was enraging him. Despite that, had Caesar not seen what they had accomplished? They had already succeeded and yet here Caesar was, spouting nonsense to all of them again. Could he not understand that they will never have peace with the humans?

Mulling over the thought Koba glanced up at the apes that sat around them and a sudden revelation came to him. Caesar was trying to sway the apes back on over to his side and if Koba agrees then the apes most surely will follow Caesar again. However… If Caesar keeps on leading them on this path, this so called peace, then it will eventually get them all killed by the humans. Koba could see this and Caesar with his blind love for the humans, could not. Closing his eyes tightly, Koba thought long and hard of what he was about to do. Opening back up his eyes again, he stared Caesar down, his decision already made.

"Caesar. Has. No. Place. Here…" Koba said in a low voice, causing the former ape leader to furrow his brows.

"Apes. Follow. Koba... Now," Koba announced in a haggard voice.

Caesar's eyes widened as he looking into Koba's. He had feared this greatly and the bonobo's sneering bleeding face told him that the bonobo will not give up the loyalties of his apes back on over to him without a fight. Taking a few deep breaths, Caesar looked around at all the apes that were watching them, waiting, before his eyes settled back onto Koba's. If it had to be this way, a fight between both he and Koba, then it must. For the sake of their future.

"Follow. Koba. To war," Caesar huffed out in a almost tired voice.

"Apes! Win! War!" Koba shouted, sending blood and spittle flying Caesar's way.

Blue Eyes and Ash worriedly glanced around as the apes all hooted and agreed with Koba.

"Apes! Together! Strong!" Koba bellowed, raising his right hand and gesturing to the surrounding apes whom all hooted and howled around him.

Caesar merely frowned at Koba while the bonobo glared back at him.

"Caesar... Weak." Koba panted.

Taking in a deep breath, Caesar stared Koba down, looking into his singular angry eye.

"Koba weaker" Caesar responded in a stern voice.

Koba huffed and glanced away for a moment before he returned his angry gaze, full of wild fury back onto Caesar. With a bellowing scream, Koba had suddenly leaped up and kicked Caesar in the torso, knocking the chimpanzee leader down into the bottom portion of the girder they were standing on. Hearing Koba's yell from above, Caesar braced himself as the bonobo leaped down at him. Kicking his feet up, Caesar positioned himself right as Koba landed on him and launched the ape upwards, propelling the bloody and scarred bonobo into the air before falling back onto a piece of the girder.

Standing back up Caesar braced himself as Koba came running, jumping on each small beam towards him. Throwing his arms up to cover his head, Caesar felt Koba's ferocious blows upon his arms. Koba then broke through Caesar's defense, striking the chimpanzee in the snout. Falling backwards, Caesar's foot grabbed a hold of Koba's, dragging the surprised bonobo down with him as they fell into a large stack of scaffolds, crashing and breaking them down.

Seeing his father fall onto the scaffolding, Blue Eyes quickly jumped down the ledge and onto a beam as he hooted out at the older chimp. Upon hearing his son's cries, Caesar glanced up at the younger chimpanzee and slowly shook his head at him.

My fight son.

Hissing in pain, Caesar reached out and touch at his bullet wound, noticing that he was slightly bleeding from it again. Looking up at the structure that they had both landed on, Caesar could see Koba getting up and groaning out in pain as he held onto his left side, a wound that he had sustained before their fight. The moment they both made eye contact Koba bared his fangs and looked around himself until he noticed a rebar sticking out from the wreckage. The bonobo then yanked out the offending piece of metal and dropped down onto the ground. Caesar started to make a run for it the moment Koba started to chase him, swinging around the rebar in his hands all the while.

Running and dodging Koba's wild swings, Caesar quickly climbed up back onto a ledge of the unfinished tower. Looking around he noticed a piece of broken concrete and picked it up in one hand. The moment Koba climbed up onto the upper floor where he was at, Caesar took aim and threw the object at Koba's wound, stunning the scarred bonobo.

Reaching down to his side and wiping his hand across the wound, Koba growled as he saw his hand coated with blood before he turned his sights upon Caesar. Approaching the chimpanzee Koba noticed Caesar picking up a sheet of metal to defend himself with. Amused slightly, Koba raised his weapon and swung it at the ape leader with a loud resounding smack echoing around them.

"Trusted Koba… Like brother!" Caesar grunted as Koba continued his assault.

"Caesar! Brother to humans! Koba! Fight for Apes! Free Apes!" Koba shouted back as he swung again at Caesar.

"Killed Apes! Koba fight for Koba!" Caesar shot back shielding himself again as Koba roared and swung the metal bar.

Koba was tiring immensely, Caesar could feel it from each of Koba's swings. He had to egg him on. What what to say?

"Koba… Belong in cage," Caesar grounded out, noticing the look of shock on Koba's face.

Glancing up Caesar could see the hurt and betrayal momentarily within Koba's eyes. That however quickly passed as it was replaced with outrage and fury. Screaming Koba swung mightily at Caesar, effectively knocking the sheet of metal out of his hands. Roaring Koba swung again but Caesar was ready. He took a hold of the metal bar and using Koba's momentum, tossed the ape into the scaffolding behind him.

Wheezing, Koba laid there on the structure for a moment before lifting himself off of it to turn back at Caesar. Caesar on the other hand was faring no better than Koba as he too was greatly fatigued from his bullet wound and arduous climb. With a yell Koba then ran at Caesar and slammed into the ape leader, sending them both toppling off into the open area of the human tower where there was nothing but several stories of empty space. Luckily for the both of them, Caesar and Koba had instinctively latched onto some chains that draped from the cranes overhead.

Holding onto the chains for dear life, Caesar and Koba looked down at the abyss below before they both turned to look at each other. Caesar glared at Koba whom returned the gaze right back at him. How could things have ended up like this between the both of them. If only Koba would stop this and allow Caesar to lead them again then they would possibly not have to go to war with the humans. Why could he not see that?

Suddenly there was a loud explosion that erupted from beneath the humans tower. Both Koba and Caesar looked down in surprise to see a giant fireball roaring towards them. Instinctively Koba and Caesar drew their bodies into themselves and waited for the fire to engulf them. However the flames never did disappearing before it even reached them and instead they both got hit with a blast of hot air that propelled them into the air, jostling the chains that they held onto.

The explosion rattled the human tower, causing it to groan and sway from the blast, causing a few of the cranes to bend and break, falling below. Several unfortunate apes were immediately thrown off the tower and fell hundreds of feet below towards their doom while others were crushed by the falling debris and crane from overhead.

Koba and Caesar had both lost their grip on their chains, landing upon a wreckage that jutted out of the tower as it groaned and swayed slightly before finally becoming still. With a grunt, Caesar sat up first and noticed Koba laying just a few feet away from him. He kept his eyes on Koba, waiting, hoping that the bonobo was still alive. To his relief, Caesar then heard several coughing fits that were emitted from the bonobo who slowly got up on shaky limbs. Relieved that the bonobo was alright Caesar perked up when he heard several whimpers, coming from nearby apes that were all around him. Ignoring Koba for the moment, Caesar raced off towards his fellow apes that were trapped beneath the rubble and haste-fully worked to move the wreckage from them.

Watching Caesar from afar, Pope stood up, all beaten, battered, bruised and bleeding. The scarred chimpanzee growled out as he looked around. Now that he was free from being a prisoner from the apes that held him down, Pope found Grey trapped beneath a piece of hollowed metal. Panting out a smile, Pope approached the fellow chimpanzee, lifted the heavy metal, picked up Grey's gun and let go of the beam, dropping it back onto the poor unfortunate chimpanzee beneath him. Setting his sights on Caesar, Pope raised his gun and started to fire the weapon.

Struggling to move the heavy metal crate from a trapped chimpanzee beneath, Caesar tried to lift with all his might. Relief suddenly came in the form of Blue Eyes as the young chimp quickly bounded towards him and assisted with the ordeal. Caesar couldn't help but smile at his son as they worked together to help save their own.

Apes. Together. Strong.

Finally able to lift the debris off of the other ape, Caesar and Blue Eyes set the heavy object back down and was about to help another when the sounds of gunfire suddenly exploded around them. There was a pained cry when Caesar noticed the ape they had just saved suddenly fell backwards, off of the ledge and down below, shot down by a now screaming Pope.

…

Watching both Blue Eyes and Caesar work together to help a fellow ape, caused the violent tendency to evaporate from within Koba, bringing him back to his senses. Even if he had disagreed with Caesar's views on humans, what mattered more was their apes and he had to do something to help in this time of need. Limping a few steps forward, Koba located an ape whose leg was trapped beneath a beam. Bending down, Koba helped the ape pushed it off before he limped away to help the others. Soon enough he came upon his good friend - Grey, whom was trapped underneath a piece of metal. Haggardly, Koba walked on over and forcefully lifted the beam off of the ape and tossed it aside. He then pulled Grey up onto his feet to which the other ape grunted in thanks.

Before Koba could respond back both he and Grey ducked when they heard the rapports of gunfire. Looking around frantically for the source, Koba could see Caesar and Blue Eyes taking cover from the fire behind a giant metal beam that had fell down from one of the cranes. Koba's eyes widen when he saw Blue Eyes picking up a stack of metal bars that were bounded together. The young ape then threw the object at Pope who narrowly dodge it, landing next to the crazed chimpanzee and exploding into several small bars.

Blinking Koba then remembered something as he saw those small pieces of metal break away. He remembered Caesar showing him something, something long ago when he was first coming to cope with his heightened intelligence all those long years ago. Caesar and picked up a piece of stick and showed it to Koba.

" _Ape alone weak,_ " Caesar had sign before breaking the stick.

Koba had then furrowed his brow in confusion and looked up at Caesar as he broke the stick into smaller pieces.

" _Apes together strong,_ " Caesar signed at last.

Caesar then showed Koba the once large stick, which was now broken down into smaller ones, were now unbent as they were all huddled together as he tried to break them. At this Koba didn't understand it at first and asked why they couldn't work alone to which Caesar merely pant chuckles and explained once more.

As the memory faded, Koba looked around himself. Apes of every species were all scattered as they were broken up from the explosion. Some tried to free themselves but with the help of others did they fully succeed. Now he looked at Pope as the lone chimp was screaming as he fired upon his own kind. Was he like Pope? A lone ape that was weak?

"Ape. Alone. Weak. Apes. Together. Strong," Koba breathed in a haggard voice.

Koba's good eye became wide when he saw Maurice fall as he was hit by Pope's gun. Breathing heavily, Koba looked around, trying to find something or someway to stop the raging ape. All he saw was a ledge that jutted just over the ape and without a second thought, Koba bounded towards it. Running as fast as his limbs can carry him, Koba leaped off of the ledge and had let out a war like cry as he flew downwards towards the unsuspecting Pope. Surprised the scarred chimpanzee turned around only to see Koba slam right into him, both barreling off towards the ledge. Before he rolled off of it, Koba reached out and was able to grab onto a support beam that jutted out of the ground that connected to the tower. Unfortunately though, Pope had grabbed onto Koba's leg and held on for dear life.

Groaning, Koba held onto the beam as he tried his best to not let go at their combined weight. Panting Koba could feel his grip slipping as fatigue and the loss of blood finally caught up to him. Looking up, Koba eyes then widen slightly when he saw Caesar bending down and taking a hold of his arm. The two then held on tightly as the chimp leader gritted his teeth, trying to pull the two hanging apes back up.

"Koba!" Caesar grunted as he tried to desperately pull the scarred bonobo back up despite Pope tightly hanging from the ape's legs.

Koba couldn't help but pant laughed at himself while he held onto Caesar's arm. Even after what he had done, after what he had did to their apes, destroyed them, ruined them, broke them and hurt them, how could he ever face them all again? Would they even welcome him back? He doubt it… However Caesar was still willing to risk his life to save both his and Pope's and that brought him a small semblance of peace.

Koba watched as Caesar struggled to hold on to both of him and Pope, the strain upon the ape king's face clear. Koba noticed Caesar barking out a cry for help causing the other apes to make their way on over as fast as they could. His eyes then wandered on over to where Caesar's bullet wound and he could make out the faint trickle of blood oozing out of it. The sight of that wound had hurt Koba, as that too was his fault. However what hurt the most was Caesar looking down at him with concern in his eyes. Was there meaning behind that look? Why did he look so worried for him? Was it not he who said that Koba himself should be put in a cage? Then it dawned on him. Caesar had lied, use that saying only as a ruse to trick him and with that a great sense of relief filled his being.

"Ape not kill ape!" Pope yelled frantically as he tightened his grip upon Koba's legs.

At the sound of Pope's desperate plea beneath him, Koba frowned. If he had any strength left he would have at least tried to struggle and kick Pope off of him, but at last, he was just too tired. Having exhausted his weary body by fighting the crazed chimpanzee that hung on to him and having to fight his Caesar for the loyalty of the apes.

Koba's good eye then caught Caesar's foot nearly slipping over the edge. He glanced back up at the ape leader and then towards the surrounding apes that were rushing towards them.

They are not going to make it.

Heaving out a tired breath, Koba made eye contact once more with Caesar whom stared back down at him as he held on.

"Koba… Pope… Are not ape," Koba resigned as he lessened his grip, causing Caesar's eyes to widen with surprise.

If he was to do one last good thing for the betterment of his friends and apes, then he would sacrifice himself to preserve Caesar's life so that he may lead them, no matter how much Caesar's way conflicted with his own. Koba could hear Caesar yelling above him as the ape king redoubled his efforts to hold onto his arm but with both of them being so tired and wounded, the chimpanzee was losing his hold. Koba however merely glanced up and stared into Caesar's eyes, a small sad smile upon his lips. He had wished that things had gone differently for the both of them. Things that maybe could have worked out if Koba had pursued it but alas it was not meant to be. Not for a long time now.

Losing his grip, Caesar tried as much as he might to try and hold onto Koba's arm.

"Koba! Hold!" Caesar cried desperately as he looked down at his friends sad smiling face.

If he could just hold on a little longer the other apes would get to them, help pull them up. The would be okay, so why was Koba refusing to save himself? Caesar did not get it. Crying out Caesar tried as best as he could to hold onto Koba's arm but with the combined weight of two apes, Caesar couldn't hold anymore and Koba's hand slipped right through his fingers.

Everything seemed to have slowed down for Caesar as he watched both Koba and Pope fall. Pope screamed a resounding "No!" flailing his limbs as he fell. Koba on the other had closed his eyes, had fell and struck a wire, hitting the scaffolds of a broken crane as it bent around him as if to consume him before it crashed all the way down the tower.

Rocket, Luca and Maurice finally got to Caesar's side but it was already too late, both Koba and Pope were gone, having disappeared into the abyss at the bottom of the human tower. They noticed Caesar silently standing there, head pointed down, watching, listening for anything but they all knew, no apes could survive a fall like that. It would have to take a miracle of some sort for an ape to come out from that fall and Caesar too must have known that. Instead of consoling him, Maurice and the others instead stared in silence as well, mourning the loss of their friend, as they should.

…

After a long silence there was a hopeful hoot that sounded out around them, causing Caesar and the others to look up at the ape that making the noise. They followed the apes gaze that was looking down at the streets below. Still aching from his injuries Caesar made his way towards the end of the tower, followed by the others to see what had caused the ape to interrupt such a solemn moment.

There, with the oncoming of the dawn's new sunlight that lighten up the hill like streets came a throng of many apes as they all emerged over the hills. Moving in a singular group, some breaking into smaller ones as they approached the tower altogether. The females and little ones had arrived and with them they brought a new sense of hope and purpose to the surrounding apes. It was the time for them to greet their loved ones and to start rebuilding what they had lost.

Climbing back down the tower structure towards the bottom, Caesar and Blue Eyes watched as their ape brothers rushed out to meet their beloved and family members. Caesar waited as he did not have the strength to meet up with Cornelia, and even if he had wanted to go and greet his queen it was more fitting for him to wait there instead. As leader of the apes, he could not be seen running around like adolescent and needed to stay looking strong for his apes, no matter how bad he had wanted to go. Blue Eyes noticed this and took from example from the older chimp and stood by his father's side, learning from the older ape as well as being an immediate support if need be. As Caesar stood there with his son, the both of them heard a commotion from behind them. Turning around both Caesar and Blue Eyes could see several apes screeching and hooting as they dragged a battered familiar looking human into view - Malcolm.

"Leave him!" Caesar ordered, causing the apes to cease their cries and back away.

Approaching the human Caesar watched the man looked around at all of them anxiously before he wiped away at the debris dust and blood that covered his face and stared back down at Caesar.

"What happened?" Caesar asked.

"Dreyfus, another human tried to bring down the tower… I tried to stop them," Malcolm responded as he cast his eyes upon the many apes around him.

"I guess it worked," Malcolm finished.

"Yes, it worked," Caesar confirmed.

"What about Pope and… Koba?" Malcolm asked Caesar, noticing the sad looking frown upon the ape's face.

"Pope and Koba… gone," Caesar said simply.

Watching Caesar, Malcolm could see the sadness etched within the ape's eyes. Caesar did not offer anymore details and Malcolm had decided to not ask any questions about what had happened.

"Caesar listen, you're not safe here." Malcolm said suddenly, causing the ape leader to furrow his brows.

"Caesar they've made contact. The people that are coming here. They're soldiers. You have to leave now. Everyone," he pleaded.

Upon hearing this, Caesar's heart dropped and he closed his eyes sadly. How could all of this happened so fast? After all they have worked so hard for and now they were expected to leave? Where would they even go? Were there even other forests nearby that humans had no access to? No they couldn't just leave, this was their home and at this Caesar closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.

"Caesar? If you don't leave. It will be an all out war," Malcolm warned.

"War. Has. Already. Begun," Caesar responded, seeing Malcolm's shoulders lowering at his words.

"Ape started war… Human… Human will not forgive," Caesar stated in a sad voice, seeing Malcolm's face fell at his words.

"You. Must go. Before fighting begins. I'm sorry. My friend," Caesar finished.

Malcolm stared into Caesar's sad eyes with his own blue ones and closed them, nodding his head sadly at Caesar's words.

"I thought we had a chance," Malcolm said quietly, opening up his eyes to look at his friend with unshed tears.

"I. did too," Caesar answered.

A moment passed by and Caesar reached up towards Malcolm, taking the human's head into his hands and brought their forehead together, the ape's gesture that extended beyond trust and friendship. Lifting his head from Malcolm's, Caesar stared at his human friend before slowly turning away from the man, and walked away.

Approaching his son, Caesar looked Blue Eyes once over, saddened that the young ape will now be thrown into something that he so desperately tried to avoid. He so very hard wanted to tell his son about what he had just learned but he will keep it to himself for now as he turned to see Cornelia approaching them.

With Cornelius in her arms, Cornelia gaped at what she saw. There standing at the height of the stairs were both her eldest son Blue Eyes and her mate Caesar. Her eyes brimming with tears, Cornelia approached her mate, not believing what she was seeing until she touched the shooting star mark on his chest. Now knowing that it was truly her Caesar, Cornelia quickly embraced him, letting out small happy coos upon knowing that he was alright. Breaking their hug, she then looked towards her son Blue Eyes and hugged him just as strongly.

…

Malcolm watched as Caesar rejoined his friends and family, all rejoicing in the aftermath of what happened. What will happen now is up to both the cooperation of humans and apes. Slowly sinking back into the shadows, Malcolm had decided to leave Caesar and the other apes.

As he climbed down the ladder and stood at the bottom of the tower, Caesar's words came back to him.

War has already begun.

But it can't be right? There was still a way to prevent all of this. Caesar had told him to run, had fought with his own people to prevent such a catastrophe from happening. Why could he do the same? Taking in a deep breath and filled with a new resolve, Malcolm looked up towards the cracks in the ceiling with the sun's rays shining through them. If Caesar was willing to risk his life to promote peace between both apes and humans then so would he.

Making his way on over to where the wreckage, Malcolm searched frantically through the debris. With any luck the radio that was used to call in the soldiers might still be around here or it might have been destroyed during the explosion. Even so, he had to try and find the radio or whatever was left of it, fix it and inform the soldiers from up north about the situation.

During his excavation Malcolm had ducked under a giant broken crane. Lifting his head back up, Malcolm had yelled out in terror as he came face to face with the sight of a scarred chimpanzee's face staring back at him. Falling down onto the rubble, Malcolm stared in horror at the ape's glassy eyes as it laid on its back with it's body broken, seemingly staring into his soul. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Malcolm calmed his nerves and slowly stood back up to continue his search.

Climbing over a piece of metal this time, Malcolm soon found himself standing right beneath the tower, where he could look up and see the top way above. Sunlight beamed down to where he was at and filled the whole area with a warm yellow glow. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Malcolm had wished that Ellie and Alex were there with him, but was sort of glad they weren't only due to how dangerous this area had become.

Letting his gaze fall back down, Malcolm then noticed an ape laying within the crater of some wreckage that seemed to have rose around him. Cautiously making his way on over to where the figure laid, Malcolm's eyes widened. It was the body of the scarred ape that he had seen up in the mountains - Koba, if he had remembered Caesar referring to the ape by name. Approaching the body, Malcolm could see that the ape in whatever his last moments were, was staring up at the sky with his one good eye and milky blind one.

Then to his surprise, Malcolm's eyes widened when he saw the ape's chest rose slightly with his eyes slowly looking at him.

He's alive…

* * *

 **Whelp, I am 1/3 done with this story. Thank you all for sticking with this story! Let me know what you guys liked about it or have any questions. In the meantime enjoy and I'll see you all in the next chapter. Next up we're diving into War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello Readers! Apologies for the long wait but here it is! We are finally moving into War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations! A lot of the story will be about the same as the book itself with some twists and changes made here and there that hopefully fits within the narrative. Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Now, since after the fighting up at the tower was done, there was a pause, a time for the apes to think and take in the aftermath of what happened. Moving along through the streets of the human city, Blue Eyes watched as many of the females and young ones from the colony cried out in despair as they huddled around the bodies of their fathers, brothers, and loved ones. Seeing the mournful faces of the female apes filled Blue Eyes with a great sadness, as if he could somehow feel their pain of loss as well, drowning him in a suffocating tide that was hard to breath in.

With a huff, Blue Eyes hurried pass the mournful apes only to come across a familiar looking orangutan with a distinctive spray of yellow hair that ran down the side of his head. It was Ray and he was sitting next to a corpse of another orangutan. Ray had taken the deceased orangutan's hand and was holding it next to his cheek, rocking back and forth slowly as if to try and calm or bring some sort of comfort to himself. Blue Eyes needn't look closer to see that the deceased ape that Ray was holding onto was Hector - Ray's father. The younger orangutan had just lost his last only living family member and it had hurt Blue Eyes as well seeing the younger ape in such a sad state.

Watching Ray from afar, Blue Eyes then noticed another orangutan slowly approaching the younger ape from the side - Maurice. The older ape stopped behind the younger ape and placed a hand upon Ray's shoulder, prompting the smaller orangutan to look up at whomever had touched him. Immediately Ray then wrapped his long arms around Maurice's middle and buried his face face into the older ape. While Maurice slowly wrapped his long arms around the smaller orangutan and patted Ray's back gently, keeping his beady green eyes that were filled with sadness upon Hector's body.

Sniffing to himself, Blue Eyes turned away from the two orangutans and slowly ambled away from the two apes, unable to bear the sight anymore. He soon found himself at the base of the human tower again, standing there upon the steps where his mother, father and brother were just at earlier. Gazing up at the tower, Blue Eyes remembered his father giving out the orders for the troops to leave the the base of the tower, saying that the structure was unstable due to the explosion that had occurred the night before. As Blue Eyes stared at the tower a sudden feeling overcame him as he remembered Ray by his dead father's side. Slowly Blue Eyes reached up and traced his hand over his still healing scars as memories slowly came back to him.

" _Don't feel bad Blue Eyes. Scars make you strong._ "

Releasing a huff, Blue Eyes shut his eyes tightly remembering Koba's words of comfort after his failed hunt with his father. Why was he having such feelings for the bonobo now? Koba had caused all of this, tried to kill Ash, fought with his father for the right to rule the apes. So he shouldn't be having this feeling of loss for the scarred bonobo… Yet… Was his uncle truly at fault though? Koba had been mentally unstable and there were all manipulated by Pope, so Blue Eyes didn't know what to think or how to feel. However he couldn't just pretend that Koba was not in his life since the moment of his birth. Teaching him the ways of the warrior while his father taught him the ways of a leader.

Squatting by the steps, Blue Eyes had decided to curl in on himself, burying his head into his arms. He knew naught how long he sat there but eventually he heard soft padding and then a hand settled itself upon his shoulder, causing Blue Eyes to stare up into Maurice's kind face.

" _Why are you here_ _,_ _all alone?_ " Maurice had asked the distraught looking prince.

"Why?" Blue Eyes suddenly croaked out in a defeated voice, surprising Maurice a little.

" _Why are they all dead?_ " Blue Eyes signed.

At this Maurice frowned and took a deep breath as he stared into Blue Eyes' sky colored hues.

" _Because they died,_ " Maurice gestured back slowly.

At Maurice's response Blue Eyes couldn't help but side glared at the older ape, wondering why such a wise old ape would give him such a stupid answer.

" _I know that they died but why are they dead?!_ " Blue Eyes signed frustratingly with a growl, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

The past few days and hours had opened Blue Eyes to a whole new world, a world that he wished that he had never seen. The fight with the humans had terrified him down to his very core. Blue Eyes himself wished to not share the same fate as his fallen brothers and it terrified him, down to his very core.

"Why? I know how apes die. But why? Why do apes die?" Blue Eyes choked out.

At this Maurice frowned at the young prince and could feel the sadness oozing from him.

" _Apes die. Humans die. All living things die eventually,_ " Maurice responded.

For some reason Blue Eyes felt that Maurice didn't really understand his question. But how could he? Blue Eyes himself knew what death was, he's seen it before. In the elderly, in the sick, the unfortunate ones that were born and passed on too soon and now his fallen brothers that died during the fight. But up until now, he himself haven't given it much thought. How much it must have hurt other apes to lose something so precious to them. A companion forever lost, never to laugh, cry, play, teach and groom one another again. The image of Ray holding onto his deceased father's hand and placing it upon his cheek. Letting out a huff, Blue Eyes turned away from Maurice and closed his eyes tightly once more.

After a moment Blue Eyes then felt a hand upon his shoulder, causing the young prince to slowly look up at the older orangutan.

" _What is the matter?_ " Maurice asked.

"Koba!" Blue Eyes responded, his tears finally spilling over.

At the mention of the bonobo's name, Maurice nodded understandingly. Blue Eyes had always looked up to Koba, much more so that Caesar in more ways than one. To the young prince Koba was more than an uncle to him, more or less like a second father figure. Maurice figured that the young Blue Eyes was at a lost of how to feel for the loss of his uncle whom he's grown so close to.

" _I miss Koba too,_ " Maurice signed somberly.

"Why... Did he... Not hold on. Longer?" Blue Eyes choked out, voice cracking.

" _May have been tired… Pope holding on to him too. Let go to save your father,_ " Maurice explained.

At Maurice's signs, Blue Eyes lowered his head and stared at the ground.

"It hurts…" Blue Eyes breathed out after a long while.

" _But not here,_ " the prince indicated to his scars and wounds, head lowering towards the ground.

Maurice carefully looked over Blue Eyes and closed his eyes, nodding knowingly at the young prince before placing a finger under the young chimp's chin and bringing it up.

" _Pain is here on the surface,_ " Maurice signed as he traced a finger over Blue Eye's scars.

Blue Eyes then blinked as he watched the older orangutan placed a gentle hand upon his temple and then upon his chest.

" _Pain is here too, much deeper and not on surface but inside,_ " Maurice explained.

" _How to make it go away?_ " Blue Eyes asked desperately.

At this Maurice didn't have answer for and did what apes do when they see another one in distress. He wrapped his long arms around Blue Eyes and brought the young ape into a gentle hug to comfort him. He could feel Blue Eyes shaking as he held him but reluctantly, Blue Eyes brought his arms up and wrapped them around the orangutan as well. After a moment the two pulled away and Maurice smiled down at the young prince.

" _Feel a little better?_ " Maurice asked, gaining a slow nod from Blue Eyes.

Heaving out a breath, Blue Eyes looked around himself and then back up at Maurice.

" _Where did all the… Where do all the dead apes go to?_ " Blue Eyes asked.

" _Away. Far, far away. To a better place,_ " Maurice answered.

…

After the battle between Koba and Caesar was done and in with the usher of a new dawn, Grey, along with many of his other brothers awaited eagerly as the females all came to greet them. His dark green eyes darted frantically until he finally sighted the two apes he had been searching for. With a relieved breath he approached the two and was greeted with cries as both his mate and child came rushing over towards him, throwing their arms around his sore form. The two chimpanzee females that held onto Grey were his beloved mate - Cedar, and their wonderful daughter Maple, whose hair was just like his, except a lighter tone in color.

" _I thought we had lost you,_ " Cedar sniffed as she pulled her head back to look into her mate's green eyes.

"We were so worried father," Maple whimpered as she hugged her father's midsection, prompting a grunt from the older ape.

Gently, Grey pried his daughter away from him and looked down at her with a tired smile.

" _I am okay Maple, do not worry now,_ " he reassured his daughter before giving her a gentle hug and then putting his forehead against hers.

Grey repeated the process with Cedar and hugged his family. Soon enough he sighted Caesar at the top of the steps at the base of the human tower and took in a deep breath. He was all alone now, with both Stone and Koba gone, their trio was now down to just himself, destroyed by Pope whom had manipulated them.

" _Grey what is wrong?_ " Cedar asked, confused at her mate's hesitation.

" _I have to make amends to our king. For I have wronged him,_ " Grey responded.

" _What did you do father?_ " Maple asked, concern lacing her features.

Grey looked down at Maple and offered her a solemn smile.

" _Nothing for you to worry about my little Maple Tree,_ " he signed to his daughter.

Rubbing a thumb over Maple's cheek, Grey noticed his daughter then looking pass him. Following his child's gaze, Grey could see that Maple was staring at a particular loud mouthed chimp whose lips had a distinct coloration of white flecks. Looking back down at his daughter, Grey huffed out amusingly before grunting to gain Maple's attention.

" _Go,_ " he signed simply and Maple was hesitant at first but Grey merely nodded, knowing exactly who his daughter wanted to go to.

Taking her father's hand into hers, Maple held onto it for a little while longer before she slowly knuckle walked away. Grey and Cedar watched as Maple approached Rocket's family and stood just a few feet away from them. As soon as Tinker had noticed the young female, she had waved for the light brown haired chimpanzee into their family circle. Maple greeted the two older chimps before she immediately approached their son - Ash, and fussed over him.

" _Do you think it is a good idea for her to be with Rocket and Tinker's son?_ " Cedar asked hesitantly.

At this Grey watched his daughter from afar, seeing her happy with Ash as she pampered over his scruffy hair, fixing it, causing both Rocket and Tinker to pant laugh at the two amusingly.

" _They will be fine,_ " Grey answered simply, turning to look back down at his mate by his side, confident that Ash would bring nothing but happiness to his little Maple Tree.

…

Blue Eyes had climbed up onto the ruins of the tower after his talk with Maurice. After his father had moved the troops away from the tower, Blue Eyes had decided to keep watch upon their apes from up on high. Watching from a leaning girder, he observed the apes below as they all filed away from the place, going off in different directions throughout the human city.

Blue Eyes then heard the soft padding of another ape approaching and turned around slowly to see who it was. To his surprise Blue Eyes was met with three other chimpanzees, Fox, Shell, and Flint, whom all stared at him before they all peered down at the ground below as well.

" _Your father should have not let the humans go,_ " Fox the bigger chimp signed at Blue Eyes.

At this Blue Eyes furrowed his brows and Fox was quick to notice before he backed down a bit.

" _The only thing the humans did wrong was to fight against Koba and the apes that were being manipulated by Pope,_ " Blue Eyes explained.

" _But apes attacked humans. Humans will be mad. Will fight again,_ " Shell interjected.

" _I do not think so,_ " Blue Eyes replied.

" _Humans are coming! We all know that!_ " Shell signed fiercely.

At this little outburst, Blue Eyes stood up slowly and bared down at the other chimp.

" _Shell stop! He's still upset,_ " Fox signed to the white eared chimp.

" _It is Koba's fault that this all happened. If he didn't attack the humans-_ " Shell began but was quickly silenced when Fox barked at him, causing him to retreat to another beam below the others, a confused look upon his face.

Blue Eyes glared at the three apes in front of him. What would they know anything about Koba? They didn't even know that they were all being fooled, manipulated by a conniving chimp, whom had used them all.

" _Do you want something, Fox?_ " Blue Eyes signed to the leader of the trio that had approached him.

Before Fox could answer a hoot from below had caught all their attention and up climbed Ash. As soon as he reached them the white flecked lipped chimpanzee looked at each of them eagerly wondering what they were doing way up in rafters of the human tower.

" _Something the matter?_ " Ash signed as he gazed into their solemn and angry faces.

With a huff, Blue Eyes turned back around and glared down at the streets below as less and less apes were sighted. Hearing a thump as something landed to the girder next to him, Blue Eyes slowly turned his attention to Ash whom was staring at him with a sad smile.

" _What is it?_ " Blue Eyes asked.

Ash did something unexpected and formed a small sign, placing it over his chest, held like wings flapping.

" _You remember? When we were_ _all_ _young?_ " Ash gestured with a sad smile.

At this Blue Eyes did remember, although he had not thought about that time for a long while now.

" _Butterflies,_ " Blue Eyes signed.

" _I remember!_ " Shell signed as he watched from below in his little spot of exile.

" _Ash tried to catch one but fell off of a branch into the water,_ " Flint signed quickly before hooting with laughter.

Upon hearing Flint and the other ape's laughter at Ash's expense, Blue Eyes could feel the anger within him ebbing away. He had remembered the years that he, Ash, Fox, Shell and Flint spent together when they were all young. The boring times they spent in their little school as Maurice taught them. The time they would play pranks on poor old Keling, the old orangutan before he passed away. The times they would often play fight with one another to build their muscles so that they could go hunting with the warriors.

Blue Eyes reached on over and patted Ash's shoulder, a smile upon his face.

" _Back then… All I ever wanted to was grow up, be a adult ape. Now I miss those days,_ " Blue Eyes signed.

" _Me too,_ " Ash responded with a sad smile of his own.

…

Winter was sitting at the end of the bridge as he watched the mass of female apes returning to the forest. Fidgeting with his finger, Winter then noticed Luca approaching him with a gun strapped over his shoulder. With a grunt, Winter approached the older gorilla.

" _Luca! I want to join you,_ " Winter signed with bravado.

" _No,_ " Luca signed back to the younger albino gorilla, noticing Winter falter. " _You stay here._ "

" _But, I want to fight the humans too,_ " Winter signed back.

At this, Luca knuckled-walked on over to where Winter was and stared the younger ape down, causing the albino gorilla to avert eye contact and shrink away.

" _Stay here,_ " Luca pointed.

" _It is because my hair is white isn't it?_ " Winter signed with a frown. " _You are afraid that the humans will see me_ _when they come_ _._ "

" _No,_ " Luca responded to the white gorilla. " _That is not it. You have a purpose, here, already with the females. You and some of the other apes are here to protect them, just like your father did when he first joined. I promised him that I will make you into a fine addition to the Gorilla Guard, just like he was,_ " Luca explained.

At this Winter didn't quite believe Luca and wanted to keep arguing; he hadn't want anyone to think that he was a coward though. He remembered seeing what had happened to his fellow apes that were killed by the humans and it terrified him greatly.

" _I… I don't remember my father,_ " Winter gestured sadly.

" _I know. But this is what he would have wanted. This is what I want for you,_ " Luca explained, gaining a slow nod from Winter whom looked away.

" _I'm not afraid to fight,_ " Winter signed, finally looking back up at Luca.

With that Luca grunted with a smile and lowered himself.

" _I know you aren't. If the females and young ones are ever threatened, I know you will be there to protect them,_ " Luca replied.

Luca then placed a hand upon Winter's shoulder and then brought their forehead against one another before he turned around and left the albino gorilla, making his way back towards Caesar and the others.

…

Caesar had spent most of the morning ordering his troops away from the unstable human tower and sent the females back into the safety of the forest across the bridge. If what Malcolm had said was true and that human soldiers were indeed coming for them, then they would need to prepare for the inevitable. Thinking ahead, Caesar had also ordered his apes to find any remaining humans, provide them with whatever provisions they needed and then lead them safely out of the city. He needn't to cause any more stir with the remaining humans than there already were during his brief absence.

Huffing out a tired sigh, Caesar closed his eyes momentarily the soft padding of footsteps had caught his attention. Turning to see who was approaching him, Caesar met the eyes of Rocket, his good friend.

" _Caesar,_ " Rocket signed before raising a supplicating palm towards the ape king.

Caesar gently swiped his palm over Rocket's and watched as the bulky bald chimpanzee taking a stand next to him.

" _Apes taking humans out of the human city now. Females and the young are being led back to the forest by Luca as you have ordered. Should we prepare ourselves now?_ " Rocket asked.

"No, w _e wait for Luca, Maurice and the other able apes to return first. Then we can discuss a plan of action,_ " Caesar responded to his longtime friend.

With a grunt, Rocket stood on by and kept watch while both he and Caesar waited for the others.

It wasn't long after until both Maurice and Luca finally showed up to meet the two.

" _Maurice how many?_ " Caesar asked, fearing what the orangutan would inform him.

" _Counted close to ninety-seven lost, seventy three injured and many still missing,_ " Maurice answered, noticing Caesar's brows furrowing at the numbers.

" _And… the females?_ " Caesar asked, turning towards Luca.

" _Many have been gathered and sent back deep into the forest with our most able bodied guards and scouts. Some are still making the journey across the bridge towards safety,_ " Luca informed.

At this news Caesar huffed out and closed his eyes, nodding at Luca. If they could keep the females and young from harm then there is a chance to rebuild. For now though they really need to find a way to stall the human soldiers once they get here. But what would they do? If they even had the number the humans soldiers still had an advantage with their advance weaponry and Caesar himself was knew nothing about war or its tactics.

Maybe Malcolm was right… They would need to leave. But to where? That is the questions that Caesar had been asking himself.

Before Caesar could discuss things with the others several hoots from behind them had caught his attention. Curiously, Caesar rounded himself to see a group of apes holding onto a human who had his arms raised high to show that he wasn't causing any harm. Caesar's eyes widen momentarily which quickly narrowed in annoyance as he walked forwards towards the humans.

"I thought. I told. To leave," Caesar grunted as he came face to face with Malcolm.

"I know, and I'm sorry but…" Malcolm started as he glanced around at the apes around them before he hushed himself so that only Caesar could hear. "I found something that only you and maybe a few others should look at."

At this, Caesar tilted his head in confusion at Malcolm. Something important that he and a few others needed to see? Why was Malcolm being so secretive.

"Please, just you and a few others," Malcolm breathed, his blue eyes darting around at the apes around him.

Taking in a deep breath, Caesar pondered if he should leave his apes for the moment. However Malcolm had been nothing but earnest with him. He trusted the man and if he said that only he and a few others needed to see then he would do as asked… For now.

"Show me," Caesar finally spoke up.

...

"Come on this way!" Malcolm ushered as he started to make his way down the ladder.

Peering down the dark hole, Caesar, Rocket, Maurice and Luca stared at one another before Caesar himself soon followed Malcolm down the hatch. For some reason or another, Malcolm had lead them back into the human tower and had suggested that only Caesar, Rocket, Maurice, and Luca to be the ones to follow him. Rocket of course objected the idea but Maurice was able to persuade the bulky chimpanzee to agree.

Unable to find Blue Eyes, Caesar had to resort and pick out another ape to keep an eye on their forces. Looking around he found Andy, an old friend during their time from the San Bruno Primate Shelter days, mated to Judy and the father of Lake. Caesar had approached the other chimp and asked for him to keep an eye upon the ape troops while he, Rocket, Maurice and Luca were away. Accepting the role Andy nodded and informed Caesar that he would do his best to watch over the troops during his absence and the two patted each others shoulders before Caesar took his leave.

Following Malcolm down into the subway tunnels the group had made their way towards the underside of the human tower. Caesar and the other watched as Malcolm struggled to climb over some debris whereas the apes themselves had no trouble hopping and climbing up into the broken cranes and what not.

Caesar, Maurice, Rocket and Luca stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Pope's corpse; wedged in between some concrete on his back and staring back at them with his glassy lifeless eyes. Caesar himself was quite shaken up at Pope but Rocket merely growled at the corpse before moving on with Luca giving a gruff and following. Maurice on the other hand placed a hand upon Caesar's shoulder, causing the ape king to turn and face the older orangutan.

" _You alright?_ " Maurice asked, using what little light that shown down through the cracks to sign.

"I'm okay," Caesar responded before nodding at his good friend and following after Rocket and Luca.

The four apes soon came upon a clearing where they could see hole way up into the tower bringing light down into the spot where they stood. The first thing they noticed was that Malcolm had quickly scrambled on over towards a spot a knelt down beside something. Curious as to what the human was kneeling next to, Caesar slowly approached Malcolm and soon enough his eyes widen with surprise.

There laying within a crater of sorts of stone and metal was a familiar looking scarred bonobo, whom looked broken, battered and bloodied as ever. At first Caesar was confused as to why Malcolm was showing him the corpse of his old friend but then he noticed the bonobo turning his blind and good eye towards him, chest rising slightly, signaling that he was still very much alive.

"Koba?" Caesar breathed.

* * *

 **I wasn't quite happy with this chapter but what the heck, its a start I suppose. There were a lot of apes that were mentioned within this chapter and most of them are Cannon within the continuity. I'll make a small list of the Original characters for this chapter below.**

 **OC Apes...**

 **Maple - Daughter of Grey and Cedar.**

 **Judy - Mate to Andy and mother to Lake.**

 **I've made some small changes within the story such as showing you guys whose Lake's parents are and turning Luca into more of a father figure for Winter. I also thought that maybe it would be interesting to give Ash a girlfriend as well. Are the changes good in your guy's opinion?**

 **If any of you have questions about anything, do let me know via comments or by PM and I'll do my best to get back to you as soon as I can. In the meantime, Happy Readings and I'll see you all in the next chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

"Koba?" Caesar's voice echoed through the quiet of the tunnels, prompting the other three apes to appear beside him.

Caesar, Maurice, Rocket and Luca all stared down at the bonobo, a mixture of different feelings among them. They all couldn't believe that Koba had survived the fall, seeming to have thought that he shared the same fate as Pope. However the scarred ape had surprised them yet again with that will to live.

"How?" Caesar asked as he approached Koba and knelt down next to Malcolm.

They all watched as the bonobo closed his eyes tightly and emitted several gurgling noises, blood bubbling from the sides of his mouth as he tried to respond.

"Wait! Wait! Don't talk," Malcolm said quietly as he hovered his hand over Koba's chest as if to prevent the bonobo from doing just that but instead only prompting the injured ape to glare daggers at him.

Frowning at Koba's deathly stare, Malcolm heaved out a tired breath and closed his eyes for a moment before he turned around to address Caesar.

"Try to not make him talk. He's much too injured. I brought you all down here because he's your…" Malcolm paused, not sure what to make of the bonobo.

"Friend," Caesar finished for the man, glancing down at Koba and then back at Malcolm. "But why. Only bring. Us?" Caesar asked.

"I'm sure you are well aware that other apes might not be so keen at seeing your friend here again," Malcolm pointed out, turning to face Koba before looking back at Caesar and the others.

The man's face then perked up a bit, looking past Caesar.

"Maybe… I should have just asked you and the two big guys to come down here instead…" Malcolm corrected himself, causing Caesar to follow his gaze.

Caesar was then quite surprised when he took notice of Rocket, standing on all fours, body tense, and lips curled back slightly to bare his ivory fangs down at Koba. Blinking, Caesar slowly stepped in between the two apes whilst Maurice and Luca cautiously watched from the side.

"Rocket?" Caesar breathed out quietly, causing the grey chimpanzee to look at him.

Slowly Rocket stood up on his legs and started to sign at everyone.

" _He got what he deserved. We should just leave him to rot!_ " Rocket signed furiously, causing Caesar to frown and both Maurice and Luca to grumble disapprovingly.

" _No, we shouldn't,_ " Caesar responded.

At this Rocket let out a bark and huffed out angrily, pounding one fist to the ground before he stood back up.

" _Koba did all of this! Why should we help him?_ " Rocket signed angrily a low growl escaping his lips.

" _Yes, Koba was the cause of this but this was only because Pope manipulated him… All of us,_ " Maurice cooed from the side, hoping to alleviate the situation.

"I! Don't! Care!" Rocket growled out, causing Malcolm to flinch upon hearing the bald chimpanzee speak for the first time.

Rocket then took a step forward. At this, Koba tried to move but merely groaned in pain as he started to move his limbs. Thinking quickly, Caesar immediately stood in between both Rocket and Koba, blocking the bulky chimpanzee's path. Maurice and Luca were quick to react as well, quickly taking Caesar's side, all facing Rocket whom stared at them with a confused look.

"Rocket! Enough!" Caesar barked causing the bulky chimp to stop in his advancements.

Baring his teeth, Rocket glared off down to to the side before slowly meeting everyone's eyes again.

" _I know why you are angry at him Rocket but Koba is not a threat right now,_ " Luca tried to reason with the angry chimpanzee.

Huffing and puffing, Rocket glared into Caesar's hazeled hues before he noticed Maurice.

" _Do not let you hate and anger consume you Rocket, like it did to Koba. Be the stronger ape,_ " Maurice signed solemnly.

At this Rocket glanced back and forth from Koba and to the others. After a few seconds the bald chimpanzee had let out a loud shout and stomped away, climbing up into the broken cranes and tearing the metal pieces apart.

Watching Rocket take out his frustrations upon the man made structures, Caesar had let out a weary breath before turning to face Malcolm whom was keeping his eyes on Rocket.

"Is… Is he going to be alright?" Malcolm asked after a moment.

"He will…" Caesar paused and looked back at Rocket as the grey chimpanzee broke off a piece of concrete and chucked it off towards the other end of the tunnel. "...Be fine."

Letting out a weary breath, Malcolm closed his eyes to calm down his nerves before looking back at Caesar, Maurice and Luca again.

"This is why I only said a few apes… I knew something like this was going to happen," Malcolm muttered under his breath.

Looking down at Koba's frail form, a tight frown appeared on Caesar's face. Was Rocket right? Should they just leave Koba here? To die alone down in the tunnels? What would that make him though? Would that not break their sacred rule? If they were to leave Koba to die alone then that just goes to show that they would have just indirectly killed him and Caesar himself has had enough with more apes dying today.

"Can. You. Help him?" Caesar asked, turning to face Malcolm.

"Actually… That was the reason why I asked you guys to come down here in the first place," Malcolm responded while standing up and scratching the back of his head. "I need your guy's help to move him to a safer location."

…

Climbing up to the top of a building, Grey had settled himself down behind a ledge and gazed out at the human city. He hadn't miss the city as much, his memories were only that of ever being from the zoo that was located much further south from where he was now, all those long years ago.

Nearly an hour earlier he had walked up to Caesar had asked the ape king for forgiveness by bending his head low and raising a supplicating palm up at the other chimpanzee. He had known that after Koba's death he had to regain his allegiance with Caesar. He had been disloyal to their leader, keeping secrets from Caesar like Koba had told him to. Grey himself hadn't known that it was Pope who was manipulating his friends and had shot Caesar. If he had only known about the crazed chimpanzee's plans then he himself would have tried... No, he would have stopped Koba and Stone, preventing all of this from ever happening. Instead, Koba was manipulated by Pope to battle with the humans. Was manipulated by Pope to start this senseless war and in turn Grey too had indirectly aided in this process because of his ignorance to Pope's manipulation and it disgusted him.

To Grey's surprise as he waited there for Caesar to forgive him, the ape leader had graciously accepted his support once more, swiping his hand over Grey's supplicating one. Frozen in shock, bewildered that he wasn't turned away, Grey had lifted his head up to look at Caesar. Grey however was met with the other chimp's stern glare, as if Caesar himself was saying that that was his final chance to redeem himself. Bowing slowly in return Grey promised to make good of Caesar re-acceptance, in any way he can.

It was then when Grey had been ordered by Caesar to do various tasks around the human city. Those were to evacuate any remaining non violent humans out of the city, search for any usable supplies and defend their apes whenever it was needed. It was hard work but true to his being, Grey was doing the best he could in order to prove to his king that his trust could be worthy again.

So here he was, up high upon one of the human buildings, gazing out at the sea to see any forms of what would look like a human ship approaching them. While on lookout the sounds of footsteps behind Grey had caught his attention, causing him to face whomever was approaching him.

" _I see you are on lookout duty,_ " a gorilla with rusted color fur signed at Grey.

Grey furrowed his brows, surprised to see Red up here with him. Red, was a gorilla that was just a tad on the small side for his kind, with rusty red fur that gave him his name. What Red lacked in size though more than made up for it with his ferocity and wit, from what Grey could tell from a distance. Letting his gaze peer past Red, Grey noticed another gorilla - Rex, known for his gigantic size that rivaled Luca's.

" _What are you two doing up here?_ " Grey inquired, letting his gaze wander from Rex back on over to Red who stood closer to him.

Red seemed to stare long and hard for a moment before he answered with another question.

" _We look over human city,_ " Red responded to Grey's question, letting his piercing acid green eyes scan over the giant buildings in the distance for a moment before letting them fall back onto the brown haired chimpanzee. " _What are you going to do now?_ " Red had asked, prompting Grey to tilt his head in confusion.

" _What do you mean?_ "

" _I am asking what Grey is going to do now? Now that Koba is gone._ "

Grey took in a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back up again.

" _I follow Caesar now._ "

" _Follow Caesar?_ " Red signed incredulously. " _We have fought the humans and won. Now Caesar wants to give our victory away by letting the humans go. It makes no sense. Apes still die when we try to lead humans out of city! Yet you still follow Caesar?_ "

Huffing out a grunt, Grey furrowed his brows at Reh's brash hand signs. He understood why the gorilla was angry. Caesar had informed them all earlier that humans, humans with weapons were coming for them. So before they all got here Caesar had ordered them to evacuate all the females, young, and wounded into the forest. As for the humans that still hid in the city, they were not to be harmed but to be lead out. That nonviolence towards the humans had some repercussions and they lost a few more apes, adding more numbers to their already large amount of dead. Breathing through his nostrils heavily, Grey closed his eyes tightly before he glanced back up at Red whom was still staring him down.

" _Human soldiers would have still come here. Nothing apes can do about that now,_ " Grey signed back, lips slightly curling upwards at the gorilla.

" _Koba would have found a way to stop the humans soldiers. Koba was strong. He would have killed all the humans that had slain our brothers,_ " Red grunted.

Grey paused for a moment when Red signed to him about Koba. Unlike Caesar, Koba would have had all the humans slaughtered. He knew because he felt the same way as well… and it frightened him.

" _Koba was my friend and leader. But he was driven by hatred, not sense. Pope sensed that, saw it in Koba, used that to control him,_ " Grey signed and paused to take a deep breath. " _If Koba had won and Caesar had lost... If Koba was leader now and if it were just these humans in the city then yes apes would beat them. But now... Human soldiers come for us from far away with their weapons - we may not be able to win if Koba was leader,_ " Grey signed hesitantly, hurting on the inside for doubting his friend. " _But with Caesar's guidance we might have a chance._ "

Grey watched as Red paced back and forth, grunting all the while; picking at his rusted color hair and fluttering his thick fingers around his face. Rex on the other hand had stood by and silently watched the both of them. After a moment Red had finally settled down and turned back to look at Grey.

" _If you follow Caesar now; and Caesar is so great. Then why are apes still in the human city? Why not we all go back into forest?_ " Red asked with a grunt.

" _Caesar has a plan. Many apes still wounded for now and are making their way slowly back into the forest,_ " Grey defended.

" _Caesar has planned before. Let humans come to do their work, then they would go away. That did not happen,_ " Red countered.

At this Grey paused once more, taking in what Red had told him. On all accounts, Red wasn't wrong. Caesar's plan sometimes wasn't the best and his compassion towards the humans brought the more trouble than good too. Heaving out a sigh, Grey thought about Red's words which had caused him to starting doubting again; this time for Caesar…

" _We need a new leader. A strong leader to lead apes away from the human soldiers then. Let us flee, away from this place. Build a new home far, far away. Grow strong,_ " Red gestured.

The prospect of having a new leader did intrigue Grey for a moment but what would that make him if he were to betray Caesar's trust again? Grunting, Grey shot Red a look.

" _I do not like this idea. There are no good apes to be new leader. Other than Caes-_ "

"Then you leader," Red spoke up, pointing at Grey who had stopped mid hand signing.

"Me?" Grey huffed out with wide dark green eyes.

" _Koba trusted you,_ " Red gestured at the surprised brown chimpanzee.

The rusted fur gorilla then approached Grey and stood before him.

" _I understand. Caesar beat Koba. Koba was used by Pope... But even you know. Deep down,_ " Red indicated by thumping his own chest. " _Caesar is weak because he loves humans too much, like Koba had said. Even now Caesar thinks apes can have peace with humans when humans still try to kill us when we help them out of the city._ "

" _Do not presume to know what Caesar thinks,_ " Grey warned with a low growl as he made eye contact with Red's acid green colored eyes.

The two glared at one another for a long time before Red huffed out a deep breath, relaxing his shoulders all the while.

" _You are right. I do not know what Caesar thinks. No apes know what Caesar thinks. Caesar does not explain himself at what he does… That is why we want a new leader. A strong leader. One who hates humans and will do anything to protect the apes... Like you,_ " Red gestured, reaching out and tapping Grey in the chest.

" _We?_ " Grey questioned. " _Who is we?_ "

" _Many of us who still follow and believe in Koba's way. That is why I ask you to lead us,_ " Red informed, baring his eyes down at Grey.

Grey gritted his teeth and cast his eyes down towards the side, not sure what to think.

" _I see Caesar. The way he looks at you. He still does not trust you because he fears you,_ " Red signed, catching Grey's attention. " _Think about it. You know I speak truth._ "

With that Red turned around and left Grey standing there. The brown haired chimpanzee then lowered his head, letting it hang from his shoulders to look down at his feet while many things raced through his mind. What Red said about him was very true, even if Caesar did forgive him the ape leader no longer trust him. It was humiliating to say the least, to have once been so esteemed in the colony, and now…

Heaving out a defeated breath, Grey tried to shrug it off but that feeling wouldn't just go away.

He was not a leader, Grey himself knows this. But Red's reasoning of Caesar did make sense. Caesar did care more about the humans. Maybe a little too much. They were not allowed to kill the humans as they fought back when they were lead out of the city; apes died because of this and it had pained and angered him to lose more brothers to the humans… But what Caesar didn't see he didn't know and Grey had been a witness to some of these… Human terminations; he revelled every moment when a human fell over and did not get back up when an ape shot at them in self defence.

The big question is though… What should he do? Should he keep on following Caesar's rule? Or should he step in as a new leader and like Koba, destroy the humans in order to save their apes? Or did what Red had suggested and take what apes that would follow him to a new home, one far away from all of this fighting.

Rex on the other hand stared at Grey a little longer, watching the indecision run through the brown chimpanzees dark green eyes. With a puff of air Rex too turned around and before he too followed Red down the building.

" _Do you think he will come join us?_ " Rex asked Red once he got down onto the street with the other gorilla.

" _Who knows…_ " Red responded to the other gorilla.

" _What you said to Grey. Really disturbed him,_ " Rex complimented.

" _I only tell him truths and what he wants to hear,_ " Red simply signed back before moving on, both of them leaving Grey on the roof to his troubled thoughts.

…

Winter was standing at the end of the streets with several of the other apes that were stationed there to keep watch as apes slowly exited the city and headed on back towards the forest. Peering with his bright green eyes, Winter shuddered and grimaced as he saw many of his wounded brothers traveling with the females across the Golden Gate Bridge. Winter eyed the apes that bore the wounds from the battle with the humans. The sickening sigh had caused Winter's heart to pound against his chest and for the life of him, he couldn't stop his body from shaking as well.

He hated himself for thinking this but he was extremely glad that Luca had made him and several of the other apes stay behind to watch the females when they had all gone off to attack the humans in the city for killing Caesar, or so they thought. Back then, Winter had argued and wanted to go fight with his brothers. Now though, he was glad that he didn't and he despised himself for thinking that way.

Why? Why did it all turn out like this? In his many years of growing up in the colony they had never experienced something like this. They had lived in a time of prosperity and peace. And that moment all came crashing down when they were found by the humans just a few days ago. Oh how he desperately wished for things to go back to the way they were. He had even closed his eyes tightly and begged for it, only to open his bright green eyes and was met with more wounded that was walking in front of him.

At the sound of a grunt behind him, Winter turned around and was surprised to see another gorilla approaching him. Ajax was a gorilla that was at least seven summers older than Winter himself. The other gorilla's back already showing that silver sheen when young adult gorillas had transitioned into adulthood. To Winter, Ajax is a proud and strong warrior from the Gorilla Guards and an ideal example of what one should be. Although Ajax himself did not talk much but when he did it was usually very little, and to the point much like Luca.

" _Yes?_ " Winter signed uneasily as he eyed a small band of apes that had came with Ajax.

Ajax breathed out through his nose while he stared down at Winter and then at the female apes, along with the wounded ones as well, whom were making the trek across the bridge. He turned around and signed something to the troop behind him, all nodding at what he had gestured before they too followed the other apes across the bridge. Watching them go, Ajax soon faced Winter once more, causing the white gorilla to jump slightly at the sudden reaction.

" _Apes in city need food. You and other apes go into forest to bring nourishment back for them,_ " Ajax signed while pointing at the large band of apes that were getting smaller as they moved further and further away.

" _But I was told to keep watch here_ _by Luca_ _,_ " Winter gestured back, confused.

" _I watch now._ _I will explain to Luca._ _You go,_ " Ajax informed.

Hesitantly, Winter glanced at the apes that were making their way across the bridge before looking back at Ajax who silently nodded once at him. Letting out a relieved breath, Winter nodded back at the older gorilla and quickly followed the troop that were to bring back food for the apes.

Ajax watched as Winter hastefully caught up with the others as they headed towards the forest. He had always known that Winter was not what the others thought he was. He had seen Winter for what he is and the white gorilla was not a fighter, not by a long shot. However what Winter lacked in courage as a warrior he did make up for it by being a great forager, able to pick out roots, hidden berries and among other things where other apes had failed, just like Ajax himself.

Ajax was a warrior through and through, with a hardened heart of steel and was born for things such as this but for Winter? This was no place for the white gorilla and Ajax knew this. That was why he sent the younger gorilla away for now so that Winter could do something he was good at and have a moment of escape from all of this violence.

...

Making his way back with the others, Blue Eyes, Ash and the others soon came upon the masses of apes that were injured during the battle. Taking refuge among some of the more structural buildings and were being tended to by the females that had stayed behind. Bidding Fox, Shell and Flint a farewell both Ash and Blue Eyes went on to seek their family members.

While the two weaved through the many apes in their path a soft hoot had caught both Blue Eyes and Ash's attention. Turning their heads in the direction of the noise the two young males saw a brown haired chimpanzee waving her hand at them. Blue Eyes knew this female chimp, her name is Maple and was just about their age. She was a tad smaller than many of the other chimpanzees but she was very beautiful in her own right; bright brown hair with equally lively lime colored eyes.

Blue Eyes was quite surprised though when Ash suddenly bolted from his side and practically sped towards the young female, barreling into any unfortunate ape that had gotten in his way. As soon as Ash had reached Maple though the two quickly embraced each other in a hug and then started to converse in sign. Curiously, Blue Eyes followed Ash, confused as to why his friend had suddenly left him behind like that. Approaching the two, Blue Eyes stood off to the side as he observed Ash and Maple gently pressing their foreheads together. Seeing both Maple and Ash smiling in contempt with their heads pressed against one another, Blue Eyes suddenly felt a sense of loneliness that he couldn't quite explain. After the two had stepped away from each other did Maple notice Blue Eyes and shyly waived at him.

" _Hello Blue Eyes,_ " Maple greeted with a warm smile to which Blue Eyes nodded slowly back.

The three then awkwardly stood there in silence before Ash cleared his throat and turned to look at Maple.

" _Are you alone here?_ " Ash had asked.

" _No. I am here with Lake and our mothers. We are tending to the wounded; both apes and humans,_ " Maple answered, indicating to many of the apes that surrounded them as well a few of the humans far off to one side.

" _Isn't that dangerous?_ " Blue Eyes asked as he noticed the humans.

He knew that not all humans were bad like he was taught by Koba, thanks to Malcolm, Ellie and Alex but they should still be weary nonetheless. Maple however shook her head at Blue Eyes and a smile spread across her features again.

" _Humans over there are good. When we helped them, they helped us too._ " Maple explained before a small frown crossed her lips. " _Other humans did not like that those humans were helping us and tried to attack them. So the warriors lead those humans who would want to hurt us and the good humans out of the city._ "

Humming in response, Ash side glanced at Blue Eyes, seeing that his friend seemed a little lonely off to the side before a mischievous smile slowly crept upon his lips.

"Where. Lake?" he asked in a gruff voice, still not used to using his vocal chords but knew that he had gotten Blue Eyes' attention.

Curiously Maple glanced up at Ash wondering as to why he was asking for Lake. The male then tilted his head at Blue Eyes and Maple followed the gesture with her eyes. It then finally dawned on her what her Ash was indicating. With a small cooing hoot Maple rubbed the top of her head underneath Ash's jaw line feeling the bigger male hug her for a moment before she pulled away.

" _I'll go get her,_ " Maple signed, taking one last look at the confused Blue Eyes before she hurried away.

Watching Maple take her leave, Blue Eyes shot Ash a questioning glare that was very much akin to Caesar's.

" _Why are you asking for Lake?_ " he had inquired from Ash and for some reason feeling pretty heated that another male was asking for Lake in particular.

" _Nothing important. Just wondering where she is,_ " Ash responded while casually scratching away at his neck, just like Rocket would do many a times.

At this Blue Eyes frowned at his best friend and was about to ask what Ash was up to when they both noticed Maple returning, with Lake in tow. When Maple and Lake reached the two males she had let go of Lake and walked on over to where Ash stood. The two signed to one another before they both turned to look at the confused Blue Eyes and Lake again.

" _We're going to go see where we can help. You two enjoy each_ _others_ _company,_ " Ash signed with a big grin on his face while his friend's eyes widen tremendously.

Before Blue Eyes could say something, Ash turned tail and lead Maple away quickly, leaving him behind with an also confused looking Lake. Sometimes, Blue Eyes just didn't understand Ash and his strange antics as he watched his best friend and Maple disappear from view. With a low growl, Blue Eyes looked down to the side and heaved out a agitated chuff.

After a few moments there was a small hoot that had caught Blue Eyes attention, causing him to turn his head towards the source of the noise. So caught up in his anger at Ash for abandoning him, Blue Eyes had momentarily forgotten that Lake was still there with him. Feeling bad for actually forgotten about the female chimp, Blue Eyes reached up and scratched at the side of his head.

" _Hello Lake,_ " Blue Eyes signed to the female.

" _Hello Blue Eyes,_ " Lake gestured back, a warm smile upon her lips.

The two stood there in front of each other and Blue Eyes tried to think of something to say or do but finding it extremely difficult because Lake was looking at him.

" _How are you?_ " Blue Eyes signed in a rather questioning manner, to which Lake laughed quietly behind her hand.

" _I am doing well Blue Eyes,_ " Lake answered. " _And you?_ "

" _I... Am fine..._ " Blue Eyes gestured back slowly.

" _That is good to hear,_ " Lake responded.

While Lake had answered him, Blue Eyes had noticed that Lake had taken a step towards him and his breathing slightly quickened. Lake had stopped right in front of him and stared into his eyes. Lake's gaze were not challenging, Blue Eyes felt, more like she was searching, looking for something from him.

Blue Eyes had known Lake since he was small. Both he and she would often times play with one another along with Ash, Maple, Fox, Shell, Flint and the others at Maurice's school. However, as they all grew up, the young boys had all gone off to their games of tag, play wrestle and pretend-spears with the older males while the young girls had all gone to learn about play crafting and mothering with the older females of their colony.

Back then Blue Eyes hadn't thought much about Lake at all while he was with Ash and the other young males; too busy showing off their bravado and strengths against one another. Recently though, Blue Eyes had begun to think more about the females of his age group and his mind kept on wandering back towards Lake in particular.

Lake was so close to him now that Blue Eyes could practically smell her without even trying and it was intoxicating. Lake's scent was that of fresh morning dew which caused his heart to start hammering within his chest and knees to buckle slightly. Observing Lake, Blue Eyes then took notice at how slightly longer her hair was compared to his; with small bits of beads and shells woven into her fine soft locks. Letting his eyes roam down, Blue Eyes took in Lake's supple form before he let his gaze wander back up and stared into her almost evergreen glowing eyes as if she could see straight through him. He didn't quite understand these feelings that were overcoming him but surely they must mean something correct? He just having a extremely hard time pinpointing what they were.

The two stared at one another for a long time before Lake slowly reached up and gently traced her fingers across the red scar marks that ran across Blue Eye's torso.

" _Still hurt?_ " Lake asked to which Blue Eyes shook his head side to side slowly, letting a low hum when she had touched him.

With a smile Lake drew her hand back and then noticed how messy Blue Eyes' fur was, full of dirt, debris and small leaves. She glanced up at the blue eyed chimp for a moment before she reached out and started to comb through his coarse fur. She was grooming Blue Eyes, noticing how the male in front of her would tense up slightly where she touched him but then felt him relax soon after. Looking up at Blue Eyes again, Lake couldn't help but let out a small chortle as she noticed Blue Eyes' still confused expression.

"W-what. Doing" Blue Eyes asked in a uneasy voice.

Of course he knew what Lake was doing but he was just so knew to all this that he just blurted the first thing that came to his mind. At this though Lake continued to laugh under her breath.

" _I'm cleaning your hair, silly. You are dirty,_ " Lake responded, gaining a frown from the bigger chimp in front of her.

Blue Eyes was still very clueless.

It was a little bit later when both Lake and Blue Eyes reared their heads up when they heard several other female obas calling out towards them. Lake glanced back at Blue Eyes and offered him an apologetic smile.

" _I have to go now,_ " Lake signed apologetically to which Blue Eyes only responded with a single head nod.

Again, Lake couldn't help but let out another small chortle at Blue Eyes, confusing him even further than he already was, before she slowly turned around and walked away.

What just happened? Blue Eyes had thought to himself as he stood there and watch Lake leave.


	15. Chapter 15

**I goofed up! Apparently there was already an ape named Maple within Revelations, at the very end of the book. However lucky for me, that character did absolutely nothing, just thought that I'd let you all know...**

* * *

"Caesar?"

At the sound of his name Caesar turned his gaze away from Koba and towards Malcolm who stood beside him.

"We need to treat him, but we can't do it here," Malcolm explained.

"Hospital?" Caesar suggested after a moment to which Malcolm slowly shook his head, side to side.

"Hospitals have no supplies. Everything was either taken or burned to the ground," Malcolm informed solemnly.

At this news Caesar's brows furrowed and he looked down at Koba whom was still avoiding his stare.

"Home." Caesar finally said aloud, causing everyone to look at him. "My… Home. My human. Home," Caesar suggested.

" _Alright," Malcolm nodded as he took in a deep breath and looked around himself. "I need to make a few stops but I'll be back soon. Can you guys carefully bring him up to where the subway entrance is?_ " Malcolm asked.

"Yes," Caesar responded with a grunt.

Hearing all that he needed to hear, Malcolm had turned around and trotted a few distance away before he stop mid run and backpedaled to the apes again, confusing them.

"Actually… I'm going to need one of you guys to come with me. I don't think the apes will just let me drive into the city with my truck," Malcolm informed, looking at all of them before finally settling on Caesar.

At this Caesar frowned slightly, his brows furrowing as he thought upon Malcolm's words. The Man wasn't wrong and if the apes did see him driving the vehicle around they would most likely apprehend him, or worse… Maybe if he were to go with Malcolm then maybe the apes wouldn't attack him? But he was needed back on the surface as well. Who knows what the apes have been doing since his long absence and he needed to set things back in order if it was too chaotic up on the surface. Glancing up around himself, Caesar eyed both Maurice and Luca noticing that their frame was much too big for the vehicle if he could recall correctly. That only leaves…

Turning around slowly, Caesar had then looked at Rocket whom was standing off a little ways away from them, seeming to have been observing. Heaving out a breath, Caesar approached Rocket and stood before him, hating himself for what he was about to ask of the other chimpanzee.

" _Rocket, we need your help,_ " Caesar signed.

Rocket's eyes narrowed as he stared into Caesar's and shot a disgusted look at Koba before facing Caesar once more.

" _Helping him?_ " Rocket gestured back, pointing an accusing finger at the injured bonobo.

Taking in a deep breath to calm himself, Caesar straightened himself up.

"Yes," he said simply.

The side of Rocket's lip curled up slightly as his fiery green eyes darted to where Koba laid. Rocket then closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before opening them again and turned to look up at Caesar.

" _What do you need me to do Caesar?_ "

Caesar was quite in fact, relieved, when he saw Rocket's hand signs, knowing that that the bulky chimpanzee will help him. Caesar had known Rocket for a very long time now and knew that what he was asking of the other chimp was difficult. Even if Rocket had greatly disagreed upon what he had wanted the bulky chimpanzee trusted his judgment, following his orders without much question and Caesar was very much grateful for that. Reaching up, Caesar placed a hand upon Rocket's broad shoulder and smiled at him.

" _Are you sure you want to do this?_ Caesar gestured to his friend.

" _I follow you,_ " Rocket signed back, his thin lips settling upon its usual frown.

Upon seeing Rocket's hand signs once more, Caesar couldn't help but feel a pang of warmth within his chest as he stared into the other ape's eyes.

" _I need you to go with him to the house that I was at. They will bring in a vehicle to transport Koba back to help him,_ " Caesar explained, seeing Rocket's hard stare. " _I know you do not like this but we don't want any more deaths on our mind, friend. We have already lost too much._ "

Rocket's shoulder rose and fell with each breath he took as he looked at Caesar's hand signs. After a moment, Rocket glanced back up at the ape leader and nodded slowly.

" _I understand Caesar… I just do not like helping him... But if you think this is good then I will follow what you say,_ " Rocket gestured with a frown.

"Thank you, Rocket," Caesar breathed as he cupped the back of the bald chimpanzee's head and brought their foreheads together.

Who would have ever thought that the one ape that Caesar had first met and beat him up would become his most trusted friend, even if they had disagreements of what the other thought. Caesar was just glad that he had earned Rocket's undying trust and with that, Rocket has earned his as well.

After they had pulled away from each other, Caesar stepped aside and Rocket slowly ambled on over to where Malcolm stood. The man looked down at Rocket and then to Caesar.

"I. go. With you," Rocket grunted as he pointed at himself and then at Malcolm whom had quickly glanced back down at him.

"Oh," Malcolm simply responded, turning to look at Caesar who nodded once. "Alright then. Let's not waste any more time," Malcolm said aloud as he turned around and ran off down the tunnel, Rocket bounding right behind him.

Watching the two leave, Caesar took in a deep breath and lowered his eyes to where Koba laid, the bonobo seeming have seen and heard everything that was said. When Koba had turned his sights back towards Caesar. The two of them had locked eyes for a moment before the scarred bonobo averted his gaze once more, averting Caesar's stare. At this, Caesar breathed heavily through his nose before he looked on over to where Maurice and Luca.

"I need to return to the apes," Caesar informed both the orangutan and gorilla.

Maurice and Luca glanced at once another, nodding in unison and turned back towards Caesar.

" _I will stay behind and keep an eye on Koba,_ " Maurice signed, turning to look at the two.

" _And I will go back with you. To help keep our apes in line,_ " Luca gestured in as well with a grunt.

Caesar nodded once at the two then turned his focus on over to where Maurice stood.

" _Are you going to be alright down here with Koba, Maurice?_ " Caesar asked, not wanting to leave both of the orangutan and injured bonobo down here in the tunnels, unattended.

" _Do not worry, we will be fine. I will inform the others of where you two had gone, when they return,_ " Maurice reassured his two friends.

Nodding, Caesar then looked from Maurice to the damaged bonobo laying on the ground. His mouth set to a thin line, Caesar slowly walked over and knelt down next to the other ape.

"Koba?" Caesar spoke out in a quiet voice, causing the older ape to close his eyes tightly at the mention of his name.

Reaching out, Caesar paused for a moment before finally laying his hand upon Koba's shoulder, feeling the scarred bonobo tense up under his touch.

"Stay strong Koba. We will help," Caesar spoke to the bonobo trying his best to reassure the injured ape.

Koba however did not respond and instead kept his eyes closed tightly, confusing Caesar. Removing his hand away from Koba, Caesar stood back up slowly and turned to face both Maurice and Luca. Breathing oud deeply through his nostrils, Caesar silently walked pass the two bigger apes and headed down the tunnel that lead back up towards the surface. Luca glanced wearily at Maurice for a moment before he too followed his leader.

Maurice looked on with a frown as Caesar abruptly left, leaving even Luca behind. He solemnly turned towards the bigger ape whom quickly followed the chimpanzee down the damaged tunnels. With a deep grumbling sigh, Maurice then looked down at Koba and knelt right next to the other ape.

It pained Maurice to see Koba or any ape in that matter so broken looking like this. As he stared at Koba though, he perked his head up when he heard a small series of sniffs that were coming from the bonobo himself.

"W-why?" Koba gurgled out with a wheeze, eyes still shut tight with just the slightest of tears slipping through his closed lids.

"Because. You friend. You brother," Maurice grumbled, sitting down next to the injured bonobo. "Just lost. Your way." He finished furrowing his brows sadly down at Koba.

…

Making his way back towards the human tower by trekking across the rooftop of the buildings, Grey had kept his head low still as his thoughts raced through his mind. What should he do? Should he stick with Caesar or should he do what Red had suggested and abandoned his king once more? If he did choose to abandon Caesar then there's no turning back for him, no more forgiveness from his leader, his king. No way for him to pledge his loyalties or to be trusted by Caesar and Caesar's inner circle ever again. What will Caesar do to him then? What would happen to his family? Letting out a shuddering breath, Grey stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes tightly.

What do I do?

Just then, Grey's head shot up when he heard the distinct sounds of guns firing off in the distance, followed by screeches of both apes and humans. There was a fight going on nearby and his brothers were in trouble. Taking in a deep breath, Grey scaled down the side of a building and leaped onto the stair rails that were bolted to the sides of the giant structure that was made of concrete and stone. Keeping himself in the shadows, Grey moved quickly but quietly towards the source of the sounds.

Soon enough the brown haired chimpanzee came upon a small standoff between both humans and apes. Looking around Grey's dark green eyes could see that there were several bodies that laid in the streets between the two factions. Two of those bodies belong to none other than their own while three of the other bodies that laid down next to them were humans. Upon sighting the corpse of his now deceased kin cause Grey's blood to boil within him, shooting a dark look at the humans that were opening fire with their guns, screaming obscenities all the while. Following to where the humans were shooting at, Grey could see several apes taking cover behind the buildings, walls and vehicles from the attack.

These were the humans that Caesar had strictly informed them to lead out of the city. The humans that were not to be harmed no matter what cost. Were the human's lives so much more important than that of their own? How many must their kind die in order to preserve the humans, whom Caesar has come to love? Did their king and leader not see this?

Groaning, Grey held his head in his hands as pain shot through his mind. Why? Why did Caesar tell them to help the humans? The humans who would not stop their attack and keep on attacking them no matter how much mercy they showed. He wanted to understand Caesar's logic in all of this, very much so, but the constant deaths of their kind by the humans they were trying to help was causing a contradiction that humans and apes could coexist peacefully with one another.

Shoulders rising and falling with each heavy breath he was taking, Grey had his eyes closed while he continued to hold his head. During his breakdown though, Red's words suddenly popped up within his mind.

 _Apes still die when we try to lead humans out of city._

 _Caesar is weak because he loves humans too much, like Koba had said._

 _I see the way he looks at you._

 _He still does not trust you._

That was enough, and with a resounding bark, Grey leaped down the rest of the stairwell that he was on and snuck behind the humans whom were firing their guns at his brothers. Taking the weapon that was strapped onto his back, Grey approached from the rear side of the these human resistance. Peering around the corner of a vehicle, Grey himself could make out about eight individuals; five of them firing at his brothers while the other three were huddled beneath them.

The five humans with the weapons were so preoccupied with attacking the apes in front of them that they did not notice an ape stepping out from behind them with his gun raised. One of the humans, a young woman, whom was huddling with the other two, had noticed Grey stepping out from his hiding spot. Her green eyes grew in size as she saw the chimpanzee raising his gun at her companions. Desperately the woman was about to warn her friends but was much too late as the brown haired ape opened fire at the five with the guns.

All was silent after Grey had shot his weapon at the attacking humans. He watched with dark green eyes as five bodies fell to the ground, now full of bullet holes from his firearm. Teeth gritted and breathing heavily through his nose, Grey slowly approached the the humans and looked down at his kills. Surprisingly one of the humans was still alive, coughing and choking on his own blood as he desperately reached out for his fallen gun. Walking over to where the wounded human laid, Grey kicked the weapon out of reach from the human's outstretched hand. He watched as the dying man turned his big brown eyes up towards him and gagged loudly as he struggled to breath, blood oozing down the side of his mouth. Baring his fangs down at the human, Grey pointed the end of his barrel down at the human and pulled the trigger, letting out a loud boom that echoed into the air, finally stilling the dying human as a new hole appearing right between his eyes.

With a blink, Grey's dark green eyes shot on over to the three remaining humans whom hugged each other tightly, as if the action would bring them some kind of protection. Grey counted two females and one child that was held by the darker adult human. Staring into their wide eyes, Grey could see fear, anger, and confusion within them. Growling he turned slowly and faced the three surviving humans.

"Please don't! I beg you! Don't kill us" the woman with with dark skin pleaded as she held onto the young teary eyed boy in her arms.

The other woman with brown and golden hair tied back into a ponytail, with green eyes merely glared back at Grey though.

"Please. I beg you… Don't kill us. If you're going to kill us then please spare my child," The darker skin woman beseeched towards Grey while the child was crying within her arms.

"Apes!" Grey growled out causing the three humans to flinch at his voice. "Humans. Killed. Apes! When we. Try. To help!" Grey indicated to the two bodies in the street.

"Lies and bullshit! You attacked us first!" the woman with green eyes yelled back at Grey, whom narrowed his eyes at her.

To Grey's surprise though he had not expected the woman to suddenly pull a gun out and aimed it at him. Time seemed to have stilled for Grey as both he and the angry human woman stared into each other's eyes; hers, a furious grassy green to his dark jade colored ones. In that moment memories started to flash through his mind, memories that he was so fond of, long long ago.

Memories of him finally tasting freedom after Caesar had lead them through the battle at the bridge. Memories of both he and Stone, surviving the firestorm that the humans had hailed down at them after they had earned their freedom. Memories of him meeting Koba and finding companionship with the older bonobo. Memories of all of the apes building their homes and learning more about each other. Memories of him meeting a proud female chimp and falling in love with her. Memories of him and Cedar conceiving their first and only child, whose fine locks of hair were like the warm colors of a maple tree. Memories of him receiving much love and hugs from his very own family.

The memories were suddenly interrupted with the repeated sounds of gunfire echoing through the air once more. Letting out a startled breath and blinking once, Grey looked down at himself to find that he was surprisingly not full of bullet holes. Quickly glancing back up at the woman though, Grey could now see that her body was now slumped over, a pool of red starting to form underneath her. Heart pounding within his chest, Grey slowly let his gaze wander around and soon enough his sights fell upon another chimpanzee who was holding onto his own gun, smoke slowly trailing up from the end of the barrel.

The other ape, whose name is Pongo, if Grey himself could recall was some of the ones that had followed Pope and agreed to what the crazed chimp had planned, thus that extended possibly to Red and Rex as well. Pongo made eye contact with him and nodded once, with Grey himself nodding back, still in shock that he had just had a close brush with death itself.

Their greeting was cut short however when the dark skinned human woman started to scream and hold onto her offspring tightly, Causing both Grey and Pongo to glance her way. Grey then watched as Pongo stomped past him, marching on over to where the last two remaining humans were. Grey's eyes widen momentarily, realizing what the other chimpanzee was about to do and reached his hand out. Before Grey couldn't even utter a word, Pongo had lifted his weapon and open fire upon the human mother and child, leaving them all in a eerie silence that followed soon after. Breathing heavily at what he had just witnessed, Grey watched as Pongo turned back to face him and offered a giant sneer, confirming Grey of his suspicions. The other chimp had then let out a series of barks, calling on the rest of the apes to converge where they were at.

Grey stood there, looking down at the three human bodies in front of him as the apes moved about around him. The apes had gathered the bodies of the two deceased apes and took what weapons they could find, ripping them from the corpse of the humans that Grey himself had slain. As he stared at the bodies of the human mother and child though, Grey couldn't help but see the images of his Cedar and Maple replacing them and that caused his heart to pound deep within his chest with fear. Shaking his head to rid himself of that thought, Grey had let out a ragged breath as the voices of the humans came back to him.

"Please I beg you!"

"Spare my child."

"You attacked us first!"

The words from the two human women kept on echoing within Grey's mind and he couldn't help but reach up and take a hold of his head, eyes closed tightly while panting to himself. The human woman with sharp grassy green eyes had yelled at him, accused him and his kin for attacking the human colony. Grey had wanted to deny it, said that it was not their fault that they had attacked… But she was not wrong, her words rang true and they had indeed attacked first. All because of Pope's hunger for power… But that all did not matter now, not anymore.

Then there was the human woman who had begged for the life of her and her young. As his eyes locked onto their still bodies, the image of his mate and child replacing them had caused him to shudder with fear. He wondered if the humans would have even spared the life of his mate and child if they were to beg for their lives as well? For some reason, deep down within his being, Grey knew, just knew that most, if not all the humans would have done the same to what Pongo had did to the human mother and child. But maybe...

While in the throes of his thoughts, Grey's head reared up when he heard a loud hoot. Turning his head around, he then saw Pongo and the other apes looking back at him as if they were waiting for him. Biting his bottom lip, Grey glanced back at the dead humans and closed his eyes for a moment, stilling his pounding heart. Exhaling from his mouth, he then slung his weapon over his back once more and turned away from the bodies, making his way on over to where the others were waiting for him. Reaching them, Grey placed his hand upon Pongo's shoulder and nodded at the other chimp whom silently nodded back before moving on.

Grey watched as Pongo slowly ambled away with the other apes before he himself soon followed after the group silently. Grey knew now, what he must do.

…

Making his way through the forest, Winter had found many of the roots and berries that were needed to feed the apes that were left in the human city. It had been several hours now and the hunting and foraging apes were all gathering the last bits of supplies to make the long haul back. They had all agreed to meet back at the colony, or what's left of it, when the sun had risen just a little higher than the mountains.

Walking back into their home with bushels of roots and berries within his arms, Winter was surprised to see several of the party already there, sitting around what looked like several bonfires. Making his way over to several of the makeshift wagons, Winter dumped what he had into the back of one and eyed the apes that sat around the the dancing flames. He could see that each bonfire had something cooking within it and to his surprise he counted two full grown elks and three wild hogs roasting over them. How the apes had hunted so fast already given the time they had, astonished him.

Winter had wanted to join the other apes but he noted that he did not know any of them and felt it odd to join their small laughing banter as they stoked the flames. Looking quite crestfallen, Winter's shoulders lowered slightly and was about to walk away to sit by himself when he heard a hooting call towards his left. Glancing in the direction of the call, Winter could then see a fellow ape was waving back at him from one of the bonfires. Curiously, Winter made his way on over to the ape and as he got closer he could recognize the familiar simian.

Glade waved his hand enthusiastically at Winter as the white gorilla approached him and the few others, whom were roasting one of the wild boars. Glade is a bonobo, one of the few that lived among the colony and is noticeable by the separation of hair that ran down the middle his back, exposing his skin, like a glade among the grass, his namesake.

Bonobos were an odd bunch from the other apes as Winter could tell. They were the most social among the four great apes, almost to the point of being annoying, something he could never imagine the great Koba to be a part of. Even though they are roughly similar to their chimpanzee cousins, the bonobos are so much more different from them. Unlike the chimpanzees, whom are aggressive and tend to resolve things usually with fights, the bonobo's are usually submissive and tend to try and resolve their conflicts with… Coition. Which they had to learn fast that the other great ape were not keen to… Most of them at least.

Even if the bonobos were not the strongest fighters nor hunters, they were probably some of the fastest apes within the colony. They usually make the best scouts due to their longer limbs and slightly smaller frames. Aside from that they were also probably the best at crafting many of the things that were needed throughout the community. Finally the oddest thing about the bonobos was that they were not quite as afraid of water as the other three great apes. While chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans steered clear from the water's edge the bonobos usually wade within it. Even with their strange antics and oddities the bonobos are still very much accepted and are essential to the colony of apes.

Walking up to the bonobo, Winter could see Glade's beaming smile. The other ape then patted the ground next to him and taking that as a hint, Winter sat down on the spot. He then observed as Glade reached on over and picked out a piece of the cooked boar and handed it on over towards him, to which he gratefully accepted.

" _Where are the rest of the apes?_ " Winter asked before taking a chunk out of the offered meat.

" _Others are gathering water by the river,_ " Glade answered. " _Once they return and the meat is finished cooking, then we go back to the human city. To feed apes there,_ " Glade signed back happily before turning back around to stoke the flames with a piece of stick.

What Glade didn't see though was Winter tensing up during mid bite when he had mentioned that they would be returning to the human city. Lowering the food away from his mouth, Winter stared solemnly at the ground with his green eyes and let out a small grunt, grabbing Glade's attention.

" _Are you not scared to go back into the city?_ " Winter asked uneasily, turning to stare Glade in the eyes.

Pausing for a moment, Glade tilted his head curiously at Winter. The two stayed like that for a moment before Glade closed his lime colored eyes and took in a deep breath.

" _Glade is very scared Winter, always,_ " Glade signed back, finally opening back up his eyes to stare into Winter's, a sad smile upon his lips. " _But we must go back. The apes depends on us to bring them food. Without anyone to feed them, they will starve. It is our duty to protect and feed our apes. Understand? Apes together strong._ "

Winter watched as Glade placed both of his hands together to represent the unity of the apes. A sign that Caesar had made much earlier that morning when he announced that the human soldiers were coming and that they all needed to stand together in order to fight this new force that would drive them from their home. Smiling weakly, Winter himself repeated the gesture with his two fists as well.

Apes. Together. Strong.

…

Cornelia watched as her Caesar had approached her, informing her that he had something to attend to. She could see that her mate was hiding something from her and she tried to pry the information out of him. Caesar however relented and tried to inform her that it was nothing. The queen, however, was not having any of it and stood her ground, wanting answers to what her mate was up to. Caesar however merely gave her his iconic stare to not question him, she however did not back down and stared him straight in the eyes, challenging his authority. She was sick of being kept in the dark and wanted to know if what her mate was doing was going to endanger his life again. She and her children could not bear to lose her mate and father again.

"You. Tell me. Where. You. Are going. Or. I. Follow. Too," Cornelia wheezed defiantly with a frown upon her features.

Cornelia herself did not speak much mainly because it was strange for her to do so but when she did however, she was not one to be trifled with, even if the other ape was her mate, earning her title as queen. While she spoke to Caesar though she did have minor trouble mainly due to the fact that she was still recovering from her illness, merely a couple of days ago.

With that being said, Cornelia watched as Caesar gritted his teeth and looked away from her, glaring at the wall just a few feet away from them. She knew what he was doing, he was waiting for her to give up, to relent to his whims; but not today, not after what had happened so much in just a few hours. She was not going to back down this time and will wait as just as long as it took or she was going to keep her word and go with him to wherever he was heading to.

" _The human who had healed me had come and asked me to go with him. Said that he had found something of interest to us. Had asked that only a few of us apes to go,_ " Caesar signed after a while, still not looking at her.

At this, Cornelia lowered her shoulders and pondered a bit about what Caesar had just informed her. Looking down at their child, sleeping within her arms, she bent down and rubbed her snout softly upon Cornelius' temple.

"Do. you. Trust him?" Cornelia asked softly, letting her gaze wander back up to her mate.

"Yes," Caesar responded, turning to look at her as well.

As she cradled their sleeping child within her arms, Cornelia thought about the two humans who had saved her, healed her from her sickness. Then to her surprise Caesar had informed her that they had also saved him too, when he was wounded by Pope, whom had shot him with the human gun. She never got the chance to thank the two humans properly for saving both of her and her mate's lives. So… If her Caesar trusted them, then she would too.

" _I'm just afraid that you won't return. Back to me and your children,_ " Cornelia signed, her eyes becoming wet with oncoming tears.

"I will never leave you. Or our children," Caesar answered in his low voice as he brought their foreheads together.

"I. Fear for you. Caesar. But. If you must. Really go. Then promise me. Promise me. That you. Will come back. To us," Cornelia whispered as she closed her eyes and felt her mate's head upon hers.

"I promise," Caesar responded with his low voice before lifting his head away from hers.

The two stared into each other's eyes for a long while before Caesar slowly turned around and walked away, calling upon Maurice, Rocket and Luca to follow.

That talk she had with her mate had been several hours ago and Cornelia was starting to worry for her Caesar while she cradled Cornelius within her hands. Heaving out a sigh, Cornelia lifted her head upwards and stared at the clear blue sky the clouds pushed by a gentle breeze that came from beyond the ocean's horizon.

Cornelia and the rest of the females that had chosen to stay behind had done their best to care for the many injured, both apes and humans. It was a terrible sight to behold but Cornelia did her best to help the injured males that were under her care. It had hurt her that she could do nothing more for the more seriously wounded however a glimmer of hope came in the form of some of the humans that they had saved.

A small amount of the humans that had empathized with the apes had chosen to stay behind and help out with the healing process. They did what the apes themselves wouldn't have thought of. One human had showed them all how to place two pieces of wood on either side of another ape's arm and wrapped it up with some bandages, while another human brought them supplies from their own wares to help out the injured.

"Why. Help?" Cornelia had asked one of the humans who looked down at her and smiled.

"Because one of you saved us," the human had responded genuinely and this made Cornelia smile in return.

It went on like this, both apes and humans helping with what they can for the injured, together like what Caesar had wanted. It was very small but it was a slow start that maybe, just maybe both humans and apes could coexist with one another. If only they could cast away their differences.

After a period of time, Cornelia had decided to rest by the stone steps with Cornelius playing within her arms. Hearing a small hoot, she had looked up and was quite surprised to see her best friend and cellmate back at the San Bruno Primate Shelter - Tinker, approaching her.

Tinker was a bit small for a female chimpanzee but she was small as she was beautiful. Every one of Tinker's movement was graceful, careful and almost ethereal like, like that of a dancing fae folk that played within the forest from human stories. She is the mate of the big ole bulky chimpanzee - Rocket, is the fair mother of her honorary nephew - Ash.

Tinker smiled as she approached Cornelia and sat down beside her.

" _You should be resting. Not out and about with us,_ " Tinker signed as she stretched an arm out and accepted her honorary nephew from Cornelia, relieving her friend from the infant.

" _I am worried Tinker. Caesar has been gone for a long time now and I haven't seen Blue Eyes anywhere,_ " Cornelia signed back a worried expression appearing on her features.

" _I worry too but boys will be boys. No matter what we do or say they will keep on doing what they feel and think is right,_ " Tinker signed, slowly rubbing her hand down Cornelius' small back as he clung to her.

" _I just want them to be safe,_ " Cornelia gestured.

" _As do I,_ " Tinker responded with a sad smile.

As the two sat there atop of the stone steps, Cornelia felt a small tug, causing her to turn towards Tinker whom was smiling warmly and pointing down at the crowd of apes below. Following her friend's hand, Cornelia was met with a sight that she thought she would never have seen. There at the far end of the crowd stood her son and Lake, Andy and Judy's child, seeming to be conversing with each other. Cornelia and Tinker then couldn't help themselves as they watched as Blue Eyes stood there awkwardly as Lake started to groom him.

" _Oh, Blue Eyes is so clueless,_ " Tinker signed with a small pant laughter.

" _Almost as clueless as his father,_ " Cornelia harrumphed but smiled warmly down at the two young apes.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cornelia then turned her sights at another young couple and she slowly reached out to tap Tinker on the shoulder.

"Seems like Blue Eyes and Lake are not the only ones," Cornelia gestured to her friend pointing to where Ash and Maple where, both affectionately grooming one another.

At the sight of her own young, Tinker smiled warmly and softly stroke the small of Cornelius' back.

Observing the budding love between the young apes from afar, both mothers was glad that even though they've just had quite the disaster, that something good still bloomed around it, only if one knew where to look. It wasn't long after until both Cornelia and Tinker heard footsteps behind them. Getting up from the ground the two females turned around and was met with the sight of Caesar and Luca returning from the direction of the human tower.

Standing there in shock, Cornelia turned towards Tinker, whom returned her child back to her and quickly made her way on over to where her mate stood. Cornelia was relieved when she felt Caesar's strong arms wrapping around her and Cornelius, prompting her to bury her head into his chest.

"Took you. So long," she breathed in a whisper.

"I am sorry," Caesar's voice sounded above her head.

Cornelia however shook her head and gazed up into Caesar's warm green golden eyes.

"Welcome back," she answered him instead with a soft smile upon her lips.

* * *

 **Original Characters Introduced...**

 **Glade - The bonobo that had the small talk with Winter.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Apologies readers! I'm sorry for taking so long. I had just been a tad busy as of late and was slowly writing this chapter out, so forgive me.**

 **I wanted to give a shout out to MeZaki93, as they are helping me with what to write in terms of Koba's injuries. So thank you!**

 **Okay enough talking, on with the story.**

* * *

Running along with Rocket trailing right behind him, Malcolm finally sighted the house that Caesar had called home, peaking just down the street.

"We're almost there!" he announced happily.

Running up to the Rodman house, Malcolm opened the door and stepped inside, finding both Ellie and Alex sitting on the couch. The other two occupants shot up from their spot and quickly ran over towards him, throwing their arms around him as they hugged him as if he was going to disappear right before their eyes.

"Oh Malcolm, I'd thought that we lost you!" Ellie heaved out as she held onto her husband, tears gently flowing down the sides of her cheeks.

"We thought we lost you… We heard the explosion. And… And…" Alexander couldn't even finish as he buried his face into his father's chest.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you two," Malcolm apologized as he kissed the top of both Ellie's and Alex's head, while holding onto them tightly.

While the family were hugging each other, Rocket quietly entered the household and stared at them curiously. He observed as the three humans were hugging one another, happy to see each other. Looking out of the doorway towards the outside, Rocket slowly lifted a hand up and placed it over his chest, where his beating heart was. Seeing the three humans reuniting together had suddenly reminded him of his own family, causing him to think about them.

When he had gone off with Caesar, Rocket himself had left Tinker behind, informing her that he needed to be with their leader. Of course Tinker had not wanted him to go as she held steadily onto his big hands, looking up at him with worried eyes. Rocket had not wanted leave as well, especially after that horrid fight that both he and his son had experienced during Koba's leadership to attack the humans. He wanted nothing more than to go back home with both his mate and child and live like they did before, but now… That is a far off dream and Caesar needed him now more than ever.

Taking his hand, Rocket had then brought it up towards Tinker's cheek and caressed the back of his thick finger across her cheek, hooting lowly all the while. At this gesture, Tinker had closed her eyes and leaned slightly into it before opening back up her lime green eyes. Rocket furrowed his brows apologetically at her, knowing that she did not want him to leave after seeing him again. However Tinker knew that Caesar needed him now and she slowly nodded at her Rocket, letting go of his other hand. The two then brought their foreheads together and after a moment Rocket leaned back and informed Tinker that he will come back to her. Understandingly, Tinker nodded back and said nothing as usual. Instead she reached up and cupped Rocket's face and brought her lips onto his, kissing him. After that sweet kiss, Rocket stared into Tinker's eyes lovingly as he slowly backed away from her, before he fully rounded himself and followed Caesar and the others to wherever Malcolm was leading them to.

Blinking several times at himself, Rocket glanced behind him when he heard the humans talking amongst each other once more, this time a voice of urgency within the male human's voice.

"Dad I want to come too!" Alexander hesitantly spoke up.

"No, stay here. Your mom and I will be right back understand? We're bringing somebody here," Malcolm replied quickly as he walked out towards the doorway.

"Malcolm?" Ellie inquired.

"I'll explain on the way there. We have to hurry, I don't know how much time he has," Malcolm answered.

With that Malcolm bolted out of the room while carrying Ellie's backpack. Rocket slowly looked at both Ellie and Alex seeing the confusion on their faces. Taking in a deep breath, Ellie closed her eyes momentarily before she turned towards Alex and said something to him, hugging him before she too followed after Malcolm, leaving just Rocket and the teenage boy still there. Turning to look at Alex, Rocket could see the fear within the human's eyes, reminding him of his own son Ash. Huffing out a puff of air Rocket had decided to slowly amble up towards the human, stopping before just the frightened teen.

"Young. Human. Stay. Mother. Father. Will come. Back," Rocket spoke and signed at the same time, causing Alex to look at him.

Rocket stared a little longer at the boy, hoping that the teen understood him. Seeing the human boy nodding slowly, caused the side of Rocket's lips to pull upward into a slight smilel. With that said between them, Rocket took a step backward before fully turning around and following both Malcolm and Ellie back outside.

…

Knuckle-walking alongside Pongo and the others in silence, Grey had kept his eyes down at the ground at his thoughts raced across his mind. Feeling a nudge on his shoulder, Grey glanced up to see Pongo staring at him.

" _Something wrong Grey?_ " the other chimpanzee asked curiously.

" _Just tired,_ " Grey signed back.

Pongo nodded understandingly and signaled the other apes to go on ahead. Taking a glance back at Grey, Pongo then huffed aloud before he too turned around and followed the others into the open square.

Watching Pongo go, Grey observed as the other chimpanzee as well as the troops walked idly by the other apes and towards a giant red haired figure in the distance. Grey's eyes lit up at the sight of Red whom was standing in front of a few others, along with Rex. Red made eye contact with him briefly before he looked away and greeted the troop that Grey was with. Huffing to himself, Grey looked away from them momentarily before deciding to make his way through the busy crowd.

As he walked among the mass of bodies and dark hair, Grey could see many of his fellow brethren, some wounded and others looking quite lost, eyes full of anguish and misery. Brows furrowing, Grey couldn't help but sympathize with them. He had never wanted this to happen to the apes of the colony. The apes did not deserve this, especially the ones that came from the labs.

Even before the great awakening, Grey had known that his people had suffered tremendously by the hands of the humans. However this was not all true… Some of the older apes had missed and even wished to go back to the company of their caretakers, the nice ones who had fed them, played with them, back when it was simple. Now though, here they all are, free from the cages that the humans had put them in and are free. But at what cost?

Just then, during his thoughts, Grey heard a familiar hoot, causing him to veer towards his left. Upon turning he was met with the sight of his beloved Cedar making her way towards him. The dark haired female ran up towards Grey and wrapped her arms around his torso, causing him to grunt, as she buried her head into his chest, careful to not irritate his earlier wound whilst letting out small hooting noises.

" _I've missed you. Are you hurt?_ " Cedar had sign worriedly at Grey, pulling herself back as she look him over, searching for any new wounds that might have appeared.

" _I am alright Cedar,_ " Grey reassured his mate as she fussed over him, grunting slightly when she pressed her hand upon his chest where the iron beam had fell on top of him when the human tower had shook.

Cedar gasped and drew her hands back quickly when she had accidentally put pressure upon her mate's old wound. Glancing up at her mate, Cedar could see the straining grimace upon Grey's face, causing her heart to ache for him.

" _I'm sorry Grey,_ " Cedar signed, hooting sadly as she gently placed her hand upon her mate's chest once more.

Taking Cedar's hands into his, Grey smiled down at her and slowly shook his head.

" _Don't be sorry. I know you did not mean to,_ " The brown haired chimpanzee signed with a tired huff.

Heaving out a relieved sigh, Cedar beamed back up at Grey and slowly she pulled the bigger male into a hug, placing her head upon her mate's chest while he wrapped his strong arms around her. Closing her eyes, Cedar listened to the steady thumps that sounded from within Grey and smiled to herself. Ever since they had been mated those many winters ago, Cedar had always placed her head upon Grey's chest, just to listen to the steady beating of his heart. Grey had thought that it was odd that Cedar herself was interested in something so insignificant as a heartbeat but to her it had meant so much more. She relished every moment when she would wake up with her head upon the bigger male's chest every morning and would hear the still steady beats from within. These sounds might have not meant anything to Grey himself but to Cedar it had meant the world to her. It informed her that the one ape she had come to love was still alive and with her and their child, among the living.

Glancing back up at Grey, Cedar tilted her head in curiousity when she noticed a certain look upon the male's features.

" _You seem troubled. Are you alright?_ " Cedar asked, reaching up and caressing Grey's jawline to which he gently leaned into with his eyes closed before he reached up and took her hand into his.

" _It is nothing,_ " Grey waved it off, not wanting to concern his mate.

Cedar however did not relent and took a hold of Grey's waving hand and stared into his dark eyes with her bright jade colored ones.

" _Grey… Do not hide these things from me. If something is troubling you. Please let me know,_ " Cedar signed desperately at her mate.

Upon seeing his mate signing her concerns towards him, caused Grey to smile warmly at Cedar as he stared longingly into her eyes. How did he ever get so lucky to have found an ape like his Cedar? Exhaling a tired breath, Grey had wrapped his hand that was held by Cedar, around hers while he closed his eyes and brought his forehead onto hers.

"I. Will. Tell you. Later," he breathed quietly before opening back up his eyes.

At this Cedar frown but did not push her mate for any more questions. As they took a step back away from each other, Cedar had kept her head pointed down for a moment before she glanced back up at her Grey and gave him a warm smile of her own.

"Later. Then," she whispered.

Upon hearing her words, Cedar noticed her Grey relaxing himself and then looked up and away from her, as if he was searching for something.

" _Where is Maple?_ " Grey questioned after a moment of searching.

At this, Cedar let out a smiling huff, turning around and pointing with a finger.

" _They are over there,_ " Cedar informed.

Following with his eyes to where Cedar was pointing at, Grey could see two distinct figures that was of his daughter as well as Ash, the son of Rocket and Tinker, sitting off to the side. Looking back at Cedar the female chimpanzee let out a small chortle.

" _They have been like that for a while now,_ " Cedar signed.

Humming in response, Grey turned back to look at his little Maple and a ghost of a smile slowly appeared upon his lips. From where he stood he could see both of the young apes signing as well as grooming one another lovingly. It still astounded Grey that out of all apes, his Maple had chosen the rambunctious Ash. At first he was concern for the safety of his daughter when the young male had seeked out the attention of his little maple tree. But as time went on, Grey noticed the young male had done quite a lot for his daughter. When Maple was having trouble carrying several heavy wood piles, Ash would hopped in and take the piles from her, laughing all the while before asking her where she needed them to go. Ash would also run errands for Maple as well when she needed things for her medical training, such as herbs and tools as such. To Grey's surprise, Ash would even sometimes bring food on over to where the young female was and share with her. It was then Grey had decided to let the two young apes relationship continue and was not surprised that both Rocket and Tinker had agreed as well.

Grey watched from afar as Ash had glanced his way and then turned back to Maple, signing something to her. Curious, Grey watched on until Maple suddenly looked in his direction as well and stood up from her spot. The young brown haired female chimp then darted across the square and practically threw herself onto him, grunting as he felt the young female chimp hugging him.

"Father!" Maple cried out in happiness as she hugged with all her might before taking a step back to look up at the older male.

"Maple," Grey answered back, lowering his head to kiss his daughter upon her temple.

Feeling a hand upon his shoulder, Grey turned slowly to see Cedar smiling warmly at the both of them as she pulled their daughter in close and hugged her as well. He then slowly enveloped his small family with his arms and held them tightly, relishing the fact that no harm had befallen them. It was small moments like these that filled Grey with hope and eased away the realities of pain that he and the apes had endured. Looking up from the faces of his two family members, Grey looked passed them and sighted Ash standing a respectable distance away from them, watching them with warm green eyes.

Glancing down at Maple, Grey noticed that the young female had turned to look at her beloved before she slowly turned back towards him. With a knowing smile, Grey turned back towards Ash and beckoned the younger male to join them. Curiously and timidly, Ash slowly approached before he was immediately pulled in by the older male and was placed right next to Maple, whom hugged him tightly. At this notion both Grey and Cedar couldn't help themselves but chuckle softly among each other but was glad that their little Maple tree was happy with Ash there.

…

Approaching the bridge, Winter hesitantly peeked over the wagon that was being pulled by a couple of their large horses. Upon sighting the large building structures that spiraled up towards the heavens, Winter couldn't' help but shudder a little. The first time he had seen such things they were so foreign and alien to him. Big metal objects that towered into the sky, cold, hard and dead, unlike their trees from home that were warm, soft and brimming with life. So, when he was informed by the older apes about the humans living in them it had confused Winter. He wondered why though, knowing that humans were terrible at climbing from what he's heard. Why would the humans build such large oddities that stretched far into the heavens? Were they trying to prove their worth? A statement to show that even if they could not climb well that they could still reach for the stars themselves? With a groan, Winter held his head with one hand, trying to make sense of it all as he walked along with the others. Maybe he'll never get an answer for why the humans did such things and he was fine with that.

The Golden Gate bridge had about eighteen posts, guarded by ape sentries that kept on the lookout as apes crossed the human city back into the safety of the forest. Stopping by each point, Winter and the others gave the sentry apes food and water and was thanked by his brother in arms. With a smile Winter happily nodded in return and was glad to be of some sort of service to the apes. Looking around Winter could see that Glade offering a small gourd of water to another chimpanzee before he glanced on over and offered a big ole smile, to which Winter reciprocated.

All was going rather well until Winter and the rest of the apes that were providing food came upon the seventeenth post. As the slowly approached, Winter's eyes caught two familiar looking apes who stood with scowls upon their features. Upon closer inspection, Winter's breath caught in his throat. He knew these two apes that stood guard upon the Golden Gate bridge. They were none other than Aghoo and Stripe.

Aghoo is a large gorilla from the Gorilla Guards with massive forearms to match his giant body and angular head. He was quite the known bully as well among the younger males as he would often times challenge whomever came within his sights, to a fight. Winter never understood why the other gorilla would do this. Winter believed that it was Aghoo's way to prove himself the stronger ape and wondered why such a gorilla was allowed among the ranks of the Gorilla Guard. But this was in the end Luca's decision and he would not disrespect the older gorilla's choice in the matter.

Then there was the other ape, a chimpanzee with a long streak of white hair that ran from the middle of his head all the way down to the back left side of his shoulder blade - Stripe, his namesake. Unlike Aghoo, Stripe was not so much of a bully but moreso a lackey, whom tend to follow stronger apes than himself and Aghoo is one such ape. One shouldn't underestimate Stripe though from what Winter had observed. The smaller chimp can hold his own quite well in a fight and has a wild attitude to cause the most hard heartened of apes to think twice before going in on him if they were to suddenly have a scuffle.

With a low groan the wagon containing food and water stopped as the apes unloaded their offerings to the apes stationed here as well. Instead of helping the others hand out food, Winter had gone around the wagon and decided to check the wheels or some other sort as he hoped to avoid being noticed by the two notorious sentry apes. Unfortunately for Winter, fortune did not smile on him as Stipe had rounded the corner of the wagon and grabbed a piece of cooked meat before his wild green eyes spotted Winter by the large wheel. The two stared at each other for a moment before an amused smile spread upon Stripe's mouth and he turned around, letting out a bark all the while. Winter stood there, shocked, and could only stare as Striped turned his grinning face back on over towards him while the giant shape of Aghoo appeared from around the corner as well.

" _Winter?_ " Aghoo signed, tilting his head and giving the albino gorilla a hard stare whilst Stripe merely sneered and watched them.

Winter however kept his head low and turned slowly away, avoiding making eye contact with the much bigger gorilla. Aghoo however did not like this and approached the albino gorilla, stopping before the smaller gorilla and looking him over. Still avoiding eye contact, Winter was about to ask something, that was until Aghoo abruptly cut him off.

" _Why are you not at your post?!_ " Aghoo demanded with a growl, taking a step forward and bumping chest with the white gorilla.

" _I-I was told to help with the foraging… To help bring back food,_ " Winter responded as he took a step backward as Aghoo walked into him, leaning in and breathing into his face all the while.

" _Lies! No ape told me!_ " Aghoo signed back with a growl at the timid white gorilla. " _You snuck away didn't you? So that you did not have to stay in human city or stay guard here like the rest of us._ " Aghoo accused. "Winter. Coward," Aghoo finished with his low grunt, shoving a finger into the white gorilla's chest.

The moment Aghoo pressed his finger into Winter's chest, something deep within the white gorilla's chest rose upwards. Letting out a low growl, Winter had bared his ivory fangs and shoved Aghoo backwards, for just the disrespectful display. The wagon containing all of the food that they had gathered and hunted, groaned as Aghoo's backside slammed into it, groaning under his added weight. The sound had caused all of the apes to pause in what they were doing and turn to see what had caused the noise.

Huffing with still wide green eyes, Winter looked down at his shaking hands and then back up at Aghoo, whom was now pushing himself off of the wagon. Did he just do that? Did he just pushed Aghoo away from him? He hadn't meant to do it. Something deep within him had snapped when the bigger gorilla had shoved his digit into Winter's chest, causing instincts to take over momentarily.

" _Aghoo I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-_ "

Before Winter could even finish signing, Aghoo had let out a mighty roar and launched himself towards the white gorilla, knocking him onto the hard pavement beneath them. Briefly stunned by the action, Winter's eyes caught the sight of two fists raised over him and he reacted by bringing his arms to protect his face. The first blows connected with Winter's chest, causing him to groan in pain before he turned to his side and tried to crawl away. However Aghoo was relentless and kept on his assault, bring his giants fists upon Winter's body over and over again with unrelenting force. With a rather loud yelp, Winter had fallen onto his side and covered his torso and head with his arm as he rolled into a fetal position as Aghoo kept on attacking him, roaring all the while, accompanied with hoots and screeches from others as well.

Whimpering in fear, Winter closed his eyes tightly, begging, wishing for everything to stop. Then to his surprise it did. The hitting the roaring the screeching, all stopped. Opening his eyes, Winter had let out a breath and turned his attention upwards to see what had happened to Aghoo. To his surprise, Winter could see the big gorilla struggling with something wrapped around his neck, tossing and turning to get at whatever it was. As Aghoo spun around, Winter's green eyes widened when he saw Glade swinging into view, dangling there as he held onto Aghoo's neck in a choke hole. Amazed that he was rescued by Glade, Winter stared in wonderment as the bonobo grunted, increasing his hold on Aghoo, managing to cause the big gorilla to slump onto all fours.

Glade's moment did not last there unfortunately as Aghoo made one final attempt to grab at him and took a hold of the bonobo's left leg. Feeling that he had gotten a hold of his surprised attacker, Aghoo yanked with all his might and managed to pull the offending ape off of him and throwing Glade onto the ground. Taking the moment to catch his breath, Aghoo reached up and touched at his neck, breathing haggardly due to the strong pressure that was put there. After a brief pause, Aghoo huffed and turned his attention towards Glade whom was slowly standing back up, panting from his own adrenaline rush. With a growl, Aghoo rushed forward and tackled the bonobo back onto the ground and grabbed him by the arm. With a roar, the gorilla then threw Glade like a rag doll and the bonobo went flying, yelping aloud as he slammed into one of the old broken down vehicles a few feet away before falling into a heap.

Landing back down on his knuckles, Aghoo made his way on over to where the other ape was and glared down at him. Aghoo stared down at Glade and saw that while the bonobo was still breathing, did not get back up. Satisfied with that Aghoo rose up onto his legs and let out a mighty bellow as he beat on his chest to announce his victory while many of the other apes hooted in as well while others merely stared on disdainfully at the display. Landing back down onto all fours, Aghoo had let out a gruff at Glade before he turned around and made his way on over to where Winter still laid, with still fearful wide green eyes. Finally standing before Winter, Aghoo huffed aloud, causing the albino gorilla to blink and timidly look up at him.

" _Your turn, coward_ " Aghoo signed and raised his arms again, ready to strike.

Before Aghoo could bring his arms down upon the still stunned Winter, a loud roar pierced the air, causing the gorilla to freeze mid swing. All of the apes looked around to see who made that noise and were all surprise to see Ajax making his way towards them. Backing away slightly, Aghoo and the other apes waited as the older gorilla approached them, stopping and looked around with his sharp green eyes. Ajax then turned his attention onto both Aghoo and Winter, the white haired gorilla uneasily standing up, before his gaze wandered on over to where Glade was slowly propping himself up into a sitting position, leaning his back onto the human vehicle behind him.

"What! Meaning of this!" Ajax bellowed, turning his head to and fro, staring down at all the apes before his eyes landed onto Aghoo's.

" _He was not at post Ajax. I was just questioning him why he left and he got upset. Then he attacked me!_ " Aghoo responded, glaring at Winter.

" _He tried to interfere and was beaten up by Aghoo too,_ " Stipe barked in, signing furiously and pointing and accusing finger at Glade.

" _No he-_ " Winter started but stopped when Ajax snorted and glared at him, causing him to stop mid sign.

" _We apes should not be fighting. The enemy are the humans that are trying to kill us. If we fight among ourselves now, we would be nothing but standing targets. Understood?!_ " Ajax signed furiously at everyone whom all lowered their heads and nodded in agreement. "Winter!" Ajax grunted, causing the white gorilla to flinch and give him his full undivided attention. "Take Glade. _Go with others. Feed our apes,_ " Ajax commanded.

Winter frowned at this but he looked up at the older gorilla and saw Ajax slightly shake his head side to side, telling him to listen. Exhaling through his nose, Winter closed his eyes and nodded slowly, walking on over to where Glade was sitting and helping him up. The both of them glanced back at Ajax for a moment before they walked on over to where the wagon was and it was ushered forward again.

Once Winter and the others were out of earshot, Ajax's face turned stern and he rounded to face Aghoo and his lackeys that were guarding this section of the bridge.

"Aghoo!" Ajax barked, causing the younger gorilla to give him his attention. " _You and other apes break formation or cause any other disturbances again and you all answer me, understood?!_ " Ajax signed, turning around slowly to face all of them, daring them to go against his orders.

"Understood..." Aghoo grumbled before he too turned around and rejoined Stripe and the others by the vehicles.

With a grunt, Ajax slowly walked passed the apes sentries of this section of the bridge and stared them all down before making his rounds on the bridge to see how everyone else was doing.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Winter breathed through his nose, grateful that Ajax had come to their rescue and was quite relieved to just be away from Aghoo and his lackeys. There was a grunt to his side, causing him to startle and round on over to see Glade groaning and cradling his right side.

" _You are hurt,_ " Winter grunted, reaching on over and hovering his hand over the other ape's wounded area.

Glade glanced down at Winter's hand and slowly peered up at the white gorilla, offering a reassuring smile.

" _Glade is alright… Do not hurt much. What about you?_ " Glade asked instead with a pant and one eye closed, face in a pained grimace.

At this, Winter couldn't help but stare at Glade, wondering why the bonobo was worried about an ape like him instead of themselves. Looking down shamefully for a moment, Winter brought his hands up to ask the bonobo a question.

" _Why help me? Why worry for me?_ " Winter signed.

At this question, Glade looked down to the side for a long moment while they walked in silence before he glanced back at Winter and took in a deep breath, offering Winter a pained, sad smile.

" _Glade don't know. Glade sees Aghoo hurting Winter. Glade only wanted to help. In my nature,_ " he answered honestly.

Upon seeing what Glade had signed, Winter's eyes widened momentarily, surprised by Glade's compassion for him. Gritting his teeth, Winter had turned his head away from the bonobo, huffing out in shame at his cowardice. It was when Winter had only heard Glade's concerned hoot, did he round his head back to face the bonobo.

" _I am sorry. You got hurt because of me,_ " Winter signed apologetically eyes becoming wet with tears.

Upon seeing how sorry Winter was, Glade instead offered the white gorilla a reassuring smile, shaking his head slowly all the while.

" _Don't apologize. Glade help because fellow ape was in danger,_ " the bonobo reassured. " _Besides, Aghoo is stupid ape. Always picking fights for no reason,_ " Glade concluded with a wave of his hand.

At this, Winter couldn't help but return the infectious smile that Glade was giving him while he boldly signed aloud the stupidity of Aghoo, to which he agreed of course. After several panting laughs from the both of them while they walked alongside the food wagon, Winter touched Glade's shoulder, gaining the other ape's attention.

" _Thank you Glade. My friend,_ " Winter signed to which Glade's eyes lit up.

" _You are welcome,_ " Glade signed back, beaming back up at Winter.

...

Making his way back to where the apes were with Cornelia and Luca by his side, Caesar had caught sight of the ape that he had left in charge during his absence - Andy, Lake's father and Judy's mate. Upon noticing Caesar and the others making their way towards him, Andy lowered his gaze and offered a supplicating palm.

" _Caesar. Welcome back,_ " Andy greeted once Caesar had graced his hand, his leader nodding back at him.

" _How goes things here?_ " Caesar asked the other chimpanzee.

" _Many apes are still wounded during the fight with the humans. Others still missing after Koba had taken over. But apes here are making progress.,_ " Andy reported, stepping aside and allowing Caesar to see for himself of what the apes had been doing since his absence.

"And what of the humans?" Caesar questioned, turning to look at the other ape he had put in charge.

" _Many humans are accepting ape help to leave the city,_ " Andy informed, not missing Caesar's face going stern.

" _And the ones who don't accept ape help?_ " Caesar probed, causing Andy cautiously look away for a moment before turning his attention back towards him.

" _Other humans…. Tried to fight back when apes offered help. Killed many apes in surprise. Apes… Apes fought back,_ " Andy informed, noticing Caesar heaving out a breath and closing his eyes at this news.

"How many apes?" Caesar asked in a weary breath.

Andy furrowed his brows before glancing on over to where Jeanpierre stood watch and, signing at the other chimp. At this time Caesar had opened his eyes again and observed the two chimps conversing with each other before Jeanpierre finally turned his attention towards him.

" _Twenty seven more apes dead when we tried to lead humans out of the city,_ " the older ape informed.

Upon this news Caesar huffed, and looked down slightly as he took in all the information. A hoot had caught all of their attention and Caesar looked up, seeing Grey and Pongo approaching them.

" _Add two more to that as well,_ " the brown haired chimp signed as he approached Caesar and the others, stopping just by Jeanpierre's side.

" _Caesar. I know it is not my place,_ " Andy started hesitantly, turning back to face his leader. " _Is it really necessary for our apes to risk their lives for the sake of the humans?_ "

At Andy's words, Caesar closed his eyes and thought long and hard, debating with himself to see if what he had planned was really worth the investment. Was it right of him to ask his apes to aid the humans whom still attacked them? Risking their lives so that the remaining humans could live? Was his compassion towards the humans overriding the need to protect his own people?

Opening his eyes and glancing up at the other apes again, Caesar then peered past the others into the distance. It was there he could see a few humans walking around and tending to their wounded. Working together to heal both of the species. That was all the answer he needed for now.

"Yes. In order for apes to live peacefully we must be better than the humans. Extend our help to them. Make them see that apes only want peace. Not war," Caesar spoke slowly, turning to look into Andy's bright green eyes.

Andy stared at Caesar for a long while before he too closed his eyes and nodded, a understanding smile appearing on the slightly younger apes features.

" _I understand,_ " was all Andy signed with a few of the other apes agreeing as well.

" _What do we do with the rest of the humans then?_ " Jeanpierre asked this time.

Caesar glanced at the older ape for a moment before he turned to look at the humans with his mouth setting into a thin line.

" _Like other humans we need to lead them out of the city,_ " Caesar signed to all of them.

…

Maurice did not know how long he had sat with Koba for he had not way of telling the time while sitting here at the bottom of the human tower. Looking upwards towards the top of the tower, at its unfinished top section, Maurice could make out just the barest of sunlight that filtered in from above. If he were to guesstimate, he would probably conclude that it was roughly close to still early to midday morning. Then again he wasn't so sure since he didn't have a good grasp of where the sun's location was in the sky. With a grumbling sigh he just hoped that his friends and the other apes were doing alright out there in the human city. Who knows what else was out there that could possibly bring them harm, especially since Caesar had given them the news that these human soldiers were coming.

During his thoughts, Maurice flinched slightly when he heard an audible gasp coming from his charge. The orangutan then worriedly turned his attention towards the bonobo, noticing the other ape's lips pulled back in a tight grimace, body shaking slightly and chest rising and falling rapidly with each breath intake.

"Koba?" Maurice grunted out, still not used to using his vocal chords to speak.

Instead of getting an answer, Maurice could hear the wounded bonobo huffing out in pain. Reaching out, Maurice hovered his hand over Koba's body and held it there, not knowing what to do. Looking up from his charge, Maurice looked around himself to hopefully find something that could help soothe his distress friend. Finding nothing in sight, Maurice glanced back down, seeing Koba's brows furrowed as his body was starting to feel the effects of all of his wounds. Reaching out to touch Koba's left arm, Maurice had hoped that this gesture would help soothe the other ape. Maurice however was proven to be quite wrong. The moment he had applied pressure upon the other ape's arm, Koba had let out a rather loud painful grunt, causing Maurice to quickly jerk his hand back as if it were suddenly burned.

Grumbling in his throat sac in a apology, Maurice kept his hands to himself and looked around once more. He had never felt so helpless before when helping an ape. Maurice had some sort of primitive knowledge of how they would heal their apes, but not like this. This kind and type of injury was beyond him and he cursed himself for not being able to learn the medical expertise like that of the humans. Now here he stood with possibly, maybe losing another ape and friend.

Just then Maurice's ears picked up another sound and he stood up, looked around and noticed that the noise was coming from the end of the tunnel where Malcolm and Rocket had disappeared down to earlier. Maurice stood at the ready, in case some humans had found their way down here and could not be friendly. However to his great relief, out emerged both Malcolm and Rocket, both seeming to carry something long between the both of them and upon hearing Koba's pained grunts rushed on over towards him. Then to his surprise as well the human woman - Ellie followed right behind the other two and took notice of him.

"I'm sorry we're late! We had to make a few stops and-"

"No time Malcolm! He's going into a state of shock," Ellie cut in, quickly kneeling down next to Koba' side and opening up her backpack.

Nothing more was said between them as the woman quickly pulled her hair back, rolled up her sleeves and began to work on Koba. Maurice watched as the woman observed Koba quickly, touching him gently in the arms, legs, chest and face. She tried to open his mouth but the bonobo would not let the human do so and instead he whipped his head away from her with a low growl. Even in his delirious state of mind and pained state, Koba still detested the humans for some odd reason. Maurice noticed however that Ellie did not care for Koba's little actions and instead she ignored them for the time being, set on helping her patient instead. Diving into her bag, Ellie pulled out a small glass bottle, along with a small syringe. Filling up the needle with the clear liquid, Ellie reached out for Koba's right arm and searched momentarily for his vein before she injected the ape. Maurice watched in wonder as the human woman started to put her things back into her back and turned to say something to Malcolm. Letting his eyes fall back to where Koba was, Maurice soon noticed the other ape's breathing slowing down and body relaxing slightly. Whatever Ellie had injected Koba with seemed to be dulling whatever pain he was in for now.

"Thank. You," Maurice grumbled out, happy that these two humans were helping their friend out.

"Don't thank us yet," Ellie responded with a solemn smile before she whipped her head back around to address Malcolm. "Malcolm I need your help to lift him onto that portable stretcher. We need to be careful. It seems like he has some broken bones and I don't know where he's bleeding from," Ellie informed.

"Alright then," Malcolm replied as he knelt down beside Ellie to help her lift the heavy bonobo onto the stretcher.

Both Rocket and Maurice observed with worried eyes as the two humans carefully lifted Koba from his crater. The bonobo had let out a pained groan when they did and Maurice's heart jumped slightly for the other ape. When they had lifted Koba away from his crater, they all did not miss the rather large stain of blood that decorated the spot. However once both Malcolm and Ellie placed the ape back down onto the portable stretcher the ape had went back to his ragged breathing.

"Sorry we took so long. We had to make some stops, Malcolm apologized to Maurice, whom gave and understanding nod.

The two humans looked at one another and they both gave a knowing nod.

"Tell Caesar that we will be at the house. Don't worry. Ellie and I will take care of him" Malcolm reassured as both he and Ellie bent down to lift Koba up in the stretcher.

Maurice watched as both the humans both carried Koba away and looked down, noticing that Ellie had left her medical bag in her haste to move their friend towards a better spot. Leaning down and picking up the bag, Maurice glanced back up into the direction and pondered if he should follow or not. Rocket taking notice of the bag in Maurice's hands, huffed to himself before he reached a hand out towards the older ape.

" _I can still reach and follow them. You will not be able to fit into their vehicle. I'll go back with them and you go tell Caesar what is going on,_ " Rocket signed quickly.

" _Are you sure Rocket?_ " Maurice asked to which the bald chimpanzee merely grunted and nodded once.

" _No matter how much I still hate Koba for what he did… He is still ape. And if Caesar wants to save him then I will follow,_ " Rocket signed back.

At this, Maurice smiled genuinely at his old friend. Relieved that Rocket was putting aside his hatred, Maurice had come to respect the other ape just a little more. Glancing back down at the backpack within his hands, Maurice slowly lifted it up and offered it to the bald chimpanzee. Rocket took the bag and slung it over his back like a human would and glanced back up at Maurice.

" _Tell Caesar where we are. We will be waiting for him. Also let Tinker and Ash know that I am fine,_ " Rocket signed, Maurice nodding back.

With nothing else to be said between them, Rocket soon bolted after the two humans down the subway tunnel, leaving Maurice there all alone. The orangutan had then closed his beady green eyes and took in a deep breath, silently thanking that their human friends had arrived just in time to help Koba, and Rocket for being the much stronger ape to cast aside his hatred to help another. Turning around slowly, Maurice ambled his way back to where Caesar and the rest of the apes were, ready to relay the messages of what had just transpired.

* * *

 **So OC apes that are mentioned in this chapter is just Glade, everyone else is cannon.**

 **In Revelations, Stipe and Aghoo's physical descriptions weren't described so I described them myself.**

 **Not much else is happening in this chapter unfortunately but it is moving on now. Again sorry for the late post but better late than never eh? Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this section. Happy Readings! And I hope to see you all again in the next chapter.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello everyone! Sorry for such the long wait and I apologize greatly! Here is chapter 17 though. Honestly I'm not very happy about it but here it is at least. Happy readings everyone!**

* * *

Emerging from the broken-down structure of the human tower, Maurice ambled on over to where the tops of the stone steps were. Peering down it though, the orangutan witnessed that all the apes had formed a rather giant circle where in the middle of it stood some of the humans. Curiously, Maurice stood by the rails and watched on with his beady green eyes, wondering what was in store for the humans.

"You're sending us away?" one of the humans, a man wearing a maroon colored shirt with bright red hair and pale blue eyes asked curiously as he glanced Caesar's way.

"Yes…" Caesar answered simply, meeting the human's stare.

"Why? We could help you," a woman with straight raven colored hair and dark brown eyes spoke up in a worried tone.

At this, Caesar turned to the woman and let a ghost of a smile appear briefly on his lips before his face turned stern.

"Humans must leave. It will be dangerous to stay here. If humans want to help apes. Then humans must go. Go find other humans. Tell them that apes only want peace," Caesar explained as best as he could, turning to look at each and every one of them.

At this the humans looked at one another, considering the ape leader's words. It wasn't until the red and raven-haired couple step forward slowly, causing the many apes around them to give off warning hoots.

"Alright. If that is what you all wish. Then we will leave," the man spoke out, glancing around at all of the apes then to his people.

"And we will tell other humans of what the apes want," the woman echoed, turning around to gaze upon all of the apes as well before finally settling onto Caesar's face. "Peace."

Maurice observed carefully as the humans gathered up their belongings and were provided with a small amount of food from the apes for their journey away from their old home. Before making their way out of the city, Maurice curiously watched from afar as the red and raven-haired couple approached both Blue Eyes and Ash. It seemed like the two humans were saying something to the two young chimps before the woman bowed at them. Maurice smiled to himself as he watched both Blue Eyes and Ash looking at one another confusingly as the human couple turned around and walked away, following the rest of the small group out of the city.

Deciding that it was the right time to join Caesar and the others, Maurice climbed down the stone steps and made his way on over to where his old friend stood. Nearing his king, Maurice waited patiently as he observed Caesar signing with Cornelia for a moment before the two finally noticed him standing just a few feet away. With a soft hoot, Cornelia pointed the orangutan out, causing Caesar to round about and face him.

" _Maurice!_ " Caesar greeted as he approached, stopping just in front of the older ape.

" _I see you have finally decided to move all of the humans out of the city,_ " Maurice signed back as he watched the figures of the last remaining humans disappear off into the distance.

"Yes." Caesar answered simply as he too turned to look at the humans before he faced the orangutan once more." _It will be dangerous for the humans if they decide to stay… I have made them leave. For their own safety and for ours. They will be our messengers of peace,_ " Caesar explained.

At this Maurice nodded, agreeing with what his old friend had decided on. If there were ever to be peace among apes and humans then they must be the first to extend their hands out and help them.

" _What happened? Where is Rocket and the others? What happened to…?_ " Caesar inquired after a brief moment, snapping Maurice out of his thoughts.

" _Our human friends took him,_ " Maurice gestured back, noticing Cornelia curiously looking back and forth from him to Caesar.

"Caesar?" Cornelia spoke up as she walked on over and stood in front of them. " _What are you talking about? What do you mean humans took him?_ " Cornelia asked both Maurice and Caesar this time.

Both Caesar and Maurice glanced at one another momentarily before the ape king huffed out a breath.

" _Cornelia, I need to speak to you,_ " Caesar signed so that only both his mate and Maurice could see.

Caesar then took a hold of Cornelia's hand and gently led her and little Cornelius away from the prying eyes of the other apes that were all around them. Once he was far enough, Caesar waited for Maurice to quietly follow and noticed that Luca had trailed behind the orangutan as well. Looking from Maurice, then to Luca with the gorilla grunting, nodding as he used his body to block out Caesar's signs.

" _Caesar? What is going on?_ " Cornelia asked as she held Cornelius closer to her body.

" _Cornelia I need to tell you something, it is about Koba..._ " Caesar informed.

" _He is gone Caesar… Other apes have said-_ "

"He is alive," Caesar breathed, noticed his mate's eyes growing wide.

Before Cornelia could say or ask anything else there was a loud clatter, causing the four apes that were standing in a circle turn their heads to see who it was that made that noise. To all of their surprise, the ape that stood there was Tinker and at her feet was a small platter of food that she had dropped.

"Koba. Alive?" the petite female gasped out in a worried tone.

…

How long has it been since his parents and Rocket had left him alone at the house? It might have been merely seconds, minutes or even hours ago but to Alexander, those time away from his family felt like an eternity. Oh why did he agree to stay behind? He should have fought to go with his parents. But his father had asked him to stay and that they were all short on time? What time? He didn't understand it himself and had wished his dad had informed him more of what was going on. But nonetheless here he was, sitting on a couch in an empty house, all alone.

While he waited, Alex had started to drift off, closing his eyes and thinking of way back then, when his mother was still around. He didn't remember much about her as he was too young but he remembered her holding onto him, keeping him safe from harm. Now though… She was gone, taken away by the disease that had wiped out humankind. A disease that ironically humans themselves had created, from what he's heard. Hugging himself, Alex wished that his mother was still here to comfort him from the dangers of this new world. But as much as he wanted her there… Alex knew that his real mother was never coming back… She was gone... But that didn't mean that all was lost for him. In the days of growing up thereafter he had found a new mother - Ellie, who loves him just as much, as if he were her own child and for that he was very thankful for.

Within the middle of his thoughts the sounds of a running engine was heard from outside that came to a slow stop. Curiously, Alex looked up and before he knew it he could hear the frantic voices of both his mother and father. Getting up from his spot, Alex was about to reach for the front door but stopped when it swung open with Rocket barging in right through it. Both he and the balding chimpanzee stared into each other's surprised eyes before Alex's gaze wandered past the ape to the figures of his parents walking towards them with something on a portable stretcher.

"Mom!? Dad!?" Alex blurted out.

"Alex, can you clear the way?" Malcolm grunted as he helped Ellie carried in their injured charge.

Nodding quickly, Alexander run into the living room area and cleared as much of needed space he could while Rocket moved on over to the side of the hallway, keeping his green eyes on both of the adult humans. Taking a step back, Alexander observed as his parents brought in the portable stretcher and was surprised to see an ape on it, whom looked to be in quite the bad shape.

"Gently onto the couch on three. One. Two. Three!" Ellie grunted as she and Malcolm lifted the bonobo onto the furniture.

Walking on over slowly from behind, Alex looked between both his parents to see who or what this ape was. To the boy the creature looked slightly familiar but he couldn't pinpoint it as everyone was fussing over it. But now since he's got a clear look at the ape, Alex let out a small gasp as he took a step back. He remembered those scars that decorated the wounded ape in front of him. This was the bonobo that had attacked him at the dam, where he probably would have lost his life had it not been the intervention of both his father and Maurice. Everything was a blur to him at that point as Ellie immediately went into her nurse mode and started to clean the injured ape's wounds and injected him with medicine while his father stood back up and faced him.

"Hey, Alex?" Malcolm spoke up, reaching out and placing his non bloodied hand onto Alexander's shoulder, snapping the boy out of his stupor. "I'm sorry we left you," he apologized.

Alex merely shook his head and sniffed quietly before he reached out and hugged his father.

"It's okay. You came back. That's all that matters to me," Alex whispered, feeling his father's arms encircling him, holding him tightly.

Feeling a small pressure upon his leg, Alex looked down and stared into the olive green eyes of his mother - Ellie. Reaching out a hand, Alex took her's into his, feeling her strong grip. It was moments like this that he was happy, truly happy that both his parents were still here, no matter who they are.

"Okay… I have to work now," Ellie spoke up when they all heard the injured ape gave out a shuddering huff of air. "Malcolm?" Ellie called for the man.

"Alex you want to wait outside again?" Malcolm asked, looking into his son's eyes.

Warily, Alexander turned to look at the scarred ape momentarily, seeing the bonobo's strained face, much more so than Caesar's and turned back towards his father, nodding. Reaching down to pick up his bag again, Alex waked out of the room and sat himself by the front porch once more. With a sigh, he pulled out his artbook once more and flipped through the pages and stopped when he came upon his drawing of the ape king - Caesar. Alex stared at his drawing for a moment and thought long and hard before he flipped the page into the next blank canvas and started to sketch something out.

…

After his father's announcement of what the apes should do with the humans both Blue Eyes and Ash watched as the humans slowly gathered their things to leave, whatever that may be. Blue Eyes had glanced on over to where his father stood, seeing the older chimp's eyes watching the humans carefully. Blinking slowly, Blue Eyes understood what his father had wanted from the humans. He wanted the humans to leave, seek out others and inform them of what the apes wanted. Blue Eyes was not sure if the plan would work or even if the humans would find others out there… But what did he know? He has never ever strayed even strayed outside of their protective forest. Were there other apes out there too? Who knows…

Feeling a nudge to his side, drawing him away from his thoughts, Blue Eyes turned to glare at Ash. Not seeming to be bothered too much by his glare, Ash indicated with a nod towards the front of them. Curiously, Blue Eyes followed Ash's gaze and was surprised to see the red and raven-haired humans approaching them. Standing up, Blue Eyes narrowed his eyes slightly as he stood protectively in front of the surrounding apes, with Ash by his side. The two humans though, paused and only stared at the both of them.

"We wanted to thank you… For saving us," the red haired man spoke up, causing both Blue Eyes and Ash to look at each other briefly before turning their attention back to the two.

"Last night remember? When you two saved the other ones that were trap in the vehicle?" the raven-haired woman spoke out this time, seeing the two apes tilt their heads slightly to the side. "You two probably didn't see us but we saw you, the both of you… And we just wanted to say thank you."

"Yes, thank you two for saving us. We'll never forget you two," the red haired man spoke in as well as the raven-haired woman bowed towards them. "Well do what your leader has asked of us. We'll find others. Tell them that you apes only want peace. And if any of you ever come around. You'll have a place to stay, among with humans who understands."

With that being said the two humans thanked them one last time before they turned around and were lead away by some of the older apes. Watching as the human couple left them, Blue Eyes slowly glanced on over towards Ash with the other chimp looking at him as well.

" _What was that all about?_ " Ash signed curiously.

" _I think they were thanking us for saving them from the human cage,_ " Blue Eyes informed slowly, eyeing the couple once more as they disappeared slowly into the distance.

Letting his gaze wander back up to where both his parents were, Blue Eyes observed as his mother and father spoke to one another, only to be soon joined by Maurice. He was wondering what his uncle was saying to his parents before he felt a soft tap behind him, causing Blue Eyes to slowly turn around, only to come face to face with Lake. Upon seeing the other female, Blue Eyes froze momentarily as Lake smiled up at him and tilted her head slightly.

" _Humans?_ " Lake had asked the bigger male whom looked away quickly before slowly turning his gaze back towards her and nodded slowly.

At this Lake couldn't help herself but let out a small laugh at Blue Eyes' odd behavior. Looking past the sky-eyed prince, Lake waved at Ash whom waved back with a grin upon his features. Lake watched as Ash shoved Blue Eyes on the shoulder to get the prince's attention and signed something to him. Blue Eyes nodded at his good friend and with that Ash bid the both of them a goodbye before he bounded away, leaving the two of them alone. As Ash disappeared into the crowd of apes, Lake turned her eyes back up to where Blue Eyes was looking at her and she smiled warmly at him in return.

" _Did you eat yet?_ " Lake had asked Blue Eyes whom slowly shook his head at her.

At this Lake tilted her head at the male and stretched he hand out towards Blue Eyes who curiously looked at it before letting his gaze wander back up towards her face.

" _What?_ " Blue Eyes signed.

" _Take my hand silly,_ " Lake gestured back with a small fit of laughter before she stretched her hand out towards the male again.

At this Blue Eyes paused momentarily before he reached out and encircled his hand over Lake's, looking at their conjoined grip before he let his icy blues wander up towards Lake's evergreens. With a gentle smile set upon her lips, Lake tugged Blue Eyes, making him follow her lead.

"Where. Taking me?" Blue Eyes grunted out as he was being lead away by the smaller female.

" _You said you haven't eaten yet yes? Let's go find some food for you,_ " Lake paused to sign momentarily at Blue Eyes before continuing onwards.

Soon enough the two chimps approached a rather large wagon that had carted in goods from the forest. Feeling Lake let go of his hand, Blue Eyes watched as the female walked on over to where a familiar timid looking white gorilla stood guard, alongside another ape, a bonobo whom was beaming at everyone as he handed out handfuls of food towards everyone. Blue Eyes observed Lake as she signed at the white gorilla for a bit before she stopped and looked around, as if she was looking for something. Both he and Lake made eye contact and the female tilted her head confusingly for a moment before she beckoned him over.

" _Blue Eyes what are you doing over there? Come!_ " Lake signed.

Snapping out of his stupor, Blue Eyes blinked several times and did what the female had asked him to do and followed. Approaching Lake and the white gorilla, Blue Eyes glanced back and forth between them.

" _Blue Eyes? This is Winter. You remember Winter. He played with us when were small,_ " Lake introduced.

Blue Eyes remembered Winter well and remembered playing with the white ape. Back in the day when they were but younglings, they would all play Find the apes and usually the poor white gorilla would be found first due to his white hair. Most of the time the gorilla would laugh it off and kept on playing with them but often times Blue Eyes would see the lone white gorilla sitting by himself, looking down trodden as he picked at his snow white hair. Blue Eyes had wanted to console the white ape but didn't want to alienate himself with the other young males as he played in their little games.

" _Hello Winter,_ " Blue Eyes greeted.

" _H-Hello… Blue Eyes,_ " Winter signed back with a half-hearted smile with his arms held close towards his own chest.

Blue Eyes looked up at Winter and wondered why the white haired ape was acting so… Shy. However the prince decided to not ask, thinking it best to let the ape tell him himself when he was ready. Lake however reached up and touch Winter's shoulder, causing the white gorilla to face her. The smaller female then signed something to Winter and the gorilla nodded before he turned around and reached into the wagon. Before long, Winter pulled out a hefty looking piece of meat and offered it towards Blue Eyes. Blue Eyes glanced up at Winter and then at Lake before he accepted the offered meat and thanked the gorilla for it.

" _Do not forget leafy foods. Nuts and water,_ " the smiling bonobo suddenly popped into Blue Eyes' line of sight, nearly causing him to drop his food. " _Hello Blue Eyes!_ " the bonobo greeted with a wide smile.

"Glade," Blue Eyes greeted with a single nod at the slightly older bonobo.

Glade was a strange one… Then again most of his kind were a little… Off... If Blue Eye could recall correctly. There were not very much bonobos at all living within their vast colony. Most of them kept to themselves but they were very open with all of the other apes… Sometimes a little too open, which had gotten them into some trouble. Blue Eyes could remember his uncle - Koba, grunting in disapproval when he saw the members of his own kind, usually calling them idiots, before stomping away. Blue Eyes didn't really understand why the bonobos acted the way they did but they were quite fun to hang around with and they usually made their get togethers very entertaining.

Before long, Lake reappeared with a plate full of several leafy greens, wild nuts, berries and a small waterskin. She smiled up at Glade and thanked the two apes for their hard work before she eyed Blue Eyes once over before walking away from them. The three apes watched curiously at Lake's disappearing form with Glade glancing back and forth between the younger two.

" _Are you not going to follow her?_ " Glade questioned, grunting to get Blue Eyes' attention.

Blinking several times at the bonobo, Blue Eyes looked down at himself before turning his attention back to Lake as she walked further away from them. With a embarrassed grunt, Blue Eyes quickly followed the female as she lead them to a secluded spot, far away from the other apes so that they could eat together in peace.

Glad however merely pant laughed at Blue Eyes as he watched the young prince take his leave while Winter frowned and scratched the side of his head, confused as to what his friend thought to be so funny.

…

" _Where is Rocket?_ " Tinker signed hesitantly as she looked from Caesar to Cornelia and then to Maurice and Luca.

" _Tinker calm down. Let us explain._ " Maurice started.

" _Where is my Rocket?!_ " Tinker signed as she stared up at her old friend and then king.

Tinkers eyes were not challenging nor showed any form of disrespect. Her gaze however were that of a worried mate who was desperately looking for her love. Heaving out a tired sigh, Caesar slowly approached Tinker and reached out, placing both of his hands upon the petite female's arms.

" _Rocket is fine. He is with our good human friends,_ " Caesar signed to the petite female.

"You said. Koba. Alive," Tinker whimpered her eyes becoming wet with the start of forming tears. " _If you say that Koba is alive then what makes you think that he won't hurt Rocket too? He has already tried to kill my Ash. My sweet beloved Ash,_ " Tinker signed, drawing her hands close to her bosom as she reminisce cradling her little sweet Ash as he informed both her and Rocket of his experiences with the crazed bonobo.

Caesar watched the petite female chimp deflate in his arms and didn't know what to say until Cornelia walked on over and placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder. He turned to face his mate and saw the look that she was giving him. Caesar nodded at Cornelia and took a step back as his mate consoled with their old friend.

" _Tinker… Rocket is fine. We both know how he is. He will not give up without a fight,_ " Cornelia signed to her friend.

" _How do you know if he is alright? What if he? What if Koba?-_ "

A whoop had caught the attention of the three chimpanzees, causing them to glance in Maurice's direction as he slowly approached.

" _Rocket is doing fine, you need not worry for him. Koba is not very well at the moment as well, so do not fear for your mate Tinker. I assure you, he is perfectly alright,_ " Maurice signed from afar.

With a huff, Caesar faced both Tinker and Cornelia again, walking up to the both of them.

" _I am going to go to where both Koba and Rocket are. I do not know how long I will be gone for but I let you both know this. Koba is in no condition to threaten any apes in his current condition,_ " Caesar informed.

" _Why are you helping him Caesar? Did he not attack you?_ " Cornelia asked.

At this Caesar turned to look at his mate and stared long and hard into her eyes. She had asked him quite the difficult question and with that he did not know how to respond. Was it out of pity? For what he did to the bonobo? Or was it because he felt sorry for his old friend who had gone crazy at the appearance of humans and was manipulated by Pope.

" _We have lost too many apes as of the fight that had occurred with the humans due to Pope's manipulation. We need not suffer any more losses Cornelia,_ " Caesar gestured to his mate as he brought her in and hugged her before he turned to face Tinker.

" _How would you know if Koba would not attack you again? If he would try to hurt other apes again?_ " Tinker signed desperately, looking up at Caesar.

" _Because we all know Koba, Tinker. We have lived with him for ten winters now. He was not in the right mind when he had lead the attack against the humans. He was used and manipulated by Pope and I still believe there is good in him if he would only let go of his hatred,_ " Caesar signed.

At this, Tinker lowered her head and thought about it for a while before she looked back up at the ape king.

" _I hope you are right Caesar. Like you have said, we have lived with Koba for ten winters now. He has done nothing but be loyal to the apes and I trust you. But you must remember as well Caesar. All apes are not good and as I shall learn too, all apes are not bad… Just like humans,_ " Tinker signed slowly.

Taking his good friend's word to heart, Caesar nodded at Tinker and slowly turned to where Maurice and Luca stood.

" _We must go back,_ " he stated simply with the others nodding in agreement.

...

Huffing and puffing, Koba didn't really understand what was going on around him. He had remembered talking to Maurice for a moment before he had blacked out due to the intense pain he felt. Soon enough after that, Koba felt something pricking his arm and after a little bit the pain slowly ebbed away into a annoying irritation that filled his being. Nevertheless next he knew, he vaguely remembered being lifted into something before being carried away. He couldn't remember much but he did remember dark tunnels that soon had him squinting his eyes as it was suddenly replaced by sunlight. During this time he had heard voices as well but couldn't really understand them as they all sounded jumbled while he was being transported away. Soon enough he felt something soft underneath him and with that he blacked out again.

Soon enough as he regained consciousness, Koba suddenly tensed his body as pain erupted all around him. Screaming out loud as he felt hands upon him, searing his wound with hot burning liquid and felt something sharp piercing him over and over again in various places on his body, especially his backside. He had wanted to escape whomever was doing this to him but strong hands pushed him back down, causing him even more discomfort and voices erupted all around him. Looking towards whoever was holding him, Koba could only make out blurred silhouettes and tried to push them off of him but his body wouldn't respond. Eventually it was all too much and he fell unconscious once more, letting the feeling of sleep's embrace take hold of him.

When he had finally came to again for the second time the first thing Koba felt was a dull ache that radiated all over his body, his chest, arms, legs and backside irritated and uncomfortably hot. As he tried to move, hot searing agony lanced through his body, causing him to arch his body upward with a grunt. As Koba grunted out loud, he suddenly felt two small hands trying to push him back down as a soft voice called out over his cries. Where was he? Who was holding onto him? And why was he in such terrible pain. With a loud snarl, Koba instinctively knocked away at whomever was trying to hold him down with his good arm, causing the thing to let out a loud yelp in the process. With a few laboured huffs, Koba sat up abruptly and nearly vomited as his world suddenly spun around him. His body had also protested the sudden movements by violently cramping up and causing him to fall, missing whatever he was laying on and hitting the carpet below with a loud thud.

With a few strained breaths, Koba laid there with his eyes closed tightly as he tried his best to ignore the pain that was wracking his whole being. The agony he was going through, hurt so much, reminding him of the days when he was but a test subject back in the human labs in his youth. The memory of sharp things being stuck into his skin as he screamed in pain while the humans poured liquid fire into him. Trying to ignore the pain and memories, Koba dug his face deeper into the carpet as he breathed quick long breaths to help keep his mind off of it. While he laid there, Koba could hear hurried footsteps and strange voices that did not sound anything like an apes. Gritting his teeth, Koba cracked open his eyes and turned to see who those voices belong to. To his surprise, Koba could see three humans huddled together as they held onto one of their own, possibly the one that he had knocked away from himself, good.

"Humans!" Koba hissed and slurred, gaining the attention of the three and flinching as he felt his jaw shooting tremendous amounts of pain through him, as if they were going to fall right out of his mouth.

As they turned their heads his way, Koba was surprised again to see that it was none other than the two humans that had came to them, begging them to work at the human dam. What were these two still doing alive? Why was he there with them? Was he their prisoner? What happened to Maurice? Luca? Rocket and his Caesar? Was he their prisoner now? Their lab rat to be used again? With these thoughts shooting through his mind, Koba tried his best to get up but pain fired through his left arm and leg, causing him to cry out in surprise.

"Don't move! You'll hurt yourself even more," the human woman spoke out in concern.

"Human did this to me!" Koba barked back through the pain that spiked around his jaw, before stopping for a moment as visions and memories slowly came back to him. "No… no… not. Not humans… A-Ape?" Koba huffed out as he reached up to touch at his head, laying back down onto the carpet beneath him?

Looking on over to where the two humans were, Koba's eyes widened when he saw a familiar looking ape, staring down at him with dark green eyes.

"Rock… Ket?"

"Koba!" Rocket hissed back at the injured bonobo.

The two stared off at each other for a long while before Rocket took in a deep breath and composed himself.

" _Calm yourself Koba. Humans are helping you,_ " Rocket informed with sign, accompanied with a growl.

"Humans... Help?" Koba breathed as he slowly looked down at himself, noticing the various odd stitches here and there that ran all over his body.

Feeling the ground shake beneath him, Koba craned his neck around to look at Rocket and the two humans again, seeing them get back up and walking on over towards him.

"Humans stay! Away!" he tried to growl out but instead sounded like a desperate whimper instead.

"It's okay… We're not here to hurt you. I promise," Ellie spoke quietly as she knelt down next to Koba.

"Do not…! Touch! Me!" Koba spat, blood flying from his mouth and landed onto Ellie's bare skin.

He could see that he frightened the human woman and it filled him with satisfaction that he was able to instill such fear into her. However that did not last long as the human woman closed her eyes momentarily before her face hardened and she reach on over and placed her hand upon him, causing him to tense up at the contact, taking in a deep breath.

"Filthy hu-"

"Enough!" Ellie snapped, cutting Koba off and causing the bonobo's milky and green eyes to widen momentarily. "I am tired of you! Tired of you taking out your anger on others. Tired of you just being angry all the time… At us humans… Can't you see that I am trying to help you? You could die you know!" Ellie chastised the injured ape.

At this Koba merely growled but then stopped, noticing tears slowly cascading down from the human woman's eyes.

"No. No more okay? No more being angry. No more dying. Please. I don't want to see anymore death. I'm sick and tired of it. If you want to hurt me, or kill me or whatever, then do it once after you are well. So please… Please let me help you. I don't want you to die," Ellie begged as she stared into Koba's eyes.

Koba stared at the woman for a long while, seeing the sincerity within her olive colored orbs. Why? Why was this human crying for him? Why did she not want him to die? Was he not the one that had cause of her and her kind much pain? The notion from the human female baffled him. He hadn't felt another human's care since he was but a very small ape himself. Oddly enough this human woman reminded him of his very old caretaker from long, long ago.

"Ma.. Mary?" Koba breathed aloud, his eyes glazing over slightly.

Ellie and Malcolm looked to one another before they turned their attention towards Rocket, bemused by the name. Rocket however looked just as confused as they were and they all jumped when Koba suddenly slumped over and began to shake on the floor.

"Ellie? What's going on?" Malcolm asked as he stood over the convulsing bonobo with Rocket standing by, unsure of what to do.

"I… I think he's going into shock! He's lost a lot of blood!" Ellie explained as she quickly placed herself around Koba and ordered Malcolm to assist her.

Just then they all heard approaching footsteps and in came Caesar, Maurice, and Luca. The three additional apes stared wide eyed as they all saw the two humans trying to help Koba whom was shaking on the ground

"What happened?!" Caesar asked in a worried tone, stepping into the room.

"He's lost a lot of blood! If he doesn't get any more he might die!" Ellie explained as she gently turned Koba's head to the side while he continued to writhe on the ground.

Caesar panted as he looked down at Koba, seeing the bonobo's eyes rolling to the back of his head while he shook. Huffing and puffing, Caesar glanced around himself, desperate to find something to help out his friend, but what could he do? Where would they find any blood supply that would even help Koba? Making eye contact with the others, Caesar glanced down at himself and touched at the wound upon his chest. With a grunt, Caesar drew his hand back and stared at the red liquid that coated his fingertips. Slowly kneeling next to both Ellie and Malcolm, Caesar caught both of the human's attention.

"Need blood?" Caesar asked.

"Yes?" Ellie responded, not sure to what Caesar was getting at.

"Mine!" Caesar offered, raising his arm in between both Ellie and Malcolm, causing the woman's eyes to go wide while Rocket and the others protested with loud hoots.

"Caesar, you just healed we don't even know if-"

"Take!" Caesar ordered.

"Caesar… We don't even know if you are compatible…" Ellie tried to reason, seeing the desperation within Caesar's eyes.

"Please… He… Is… Friend… Is… Brother," Caesar begged.

Ellie looked long and hard into Caesar's green golden eyes before she turned to look at Malcolm whom was doing the same thing, staring at the ape leader.

"Do it," Malcolm said slowly, turning his head to look at Ellie. "Do it," he said quietly again.

Ellie bit the bottom of her lip as she thought long and hard for a moment. There was so many things that could go wrong. Caesar had just been shot not too long ago and he was still recovering as well. If he were to give up blood to save Koba then he was also in trouble. Worst yet if his blood was not compatible with Koba's then it could end up killing the injured ape. Looking back up at Caesar and seeing his begging eyes, Ellie couldn't just say no to him. She had to try, try and save them.

"Okay… I'll do it," Ellie finally answered back.

* * *

 **Things are happening to poor ole Koba now. Wonder what they are...**


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry everyone for taking so long. I promise I'm not dead. The holidays took a lot out of my time and unfortunately it took me a long longer that it was intended to get this chapter out. So to make up for it, this chapter is a tad longer than usual and I hope it makes up for me not posting in a while. Anyways I hope you all enjoy chapter 18.**

* * *

With the last of the humans guided out of city safely, Caesar himself had declared that the apes needed to prepare themselves for the soldiers that were coming for them. They all needed to plan ahead for what may come and seek out a way to defend themselves. They were all weary by this burst of grim news, already disheartened by the fact that they've lost so many already. Caesar however told them, told them to stay strong, vigilant and stand their ground in this new threat.

That had been hours ago and soon enough Grey found himself knuckle-walking through the empty streets that were littered with the bodies of both apes and humans. Like all of the other apes around him, they were tasked to gather any weapons that they could find as well as take their dead, so that they may be placed back into the forest where they rightfully belong.

This process was hard for many of Grey's fellow apes as he noticed fathers, brothers, sons and close kin going back to retrieve their lost loved ones. Stopping on one side of the street, Grey could make out the form of Jeanpierre. The older ape staring down at a curled form by his feet. Grey and a few other apes watched as the older chimpanzee bent down and picked up the smaller form and cradled the body close to him while he placed his head upon the deceased chimp's forehead. All of them knew exactly who that young ape was that Jeanpierre was cradling. That limp form belonged to Noble, Jeanpierre's eldest son who had perished much too soon from this world.

The apes then proceeded to keep a respectable distance from the older chimpanzee as he silently weeped for his son. It had hurt every single one of them to see an ape this way. However, what's done is done and they could never go back to the things they were.

Moving one from the scene, Grey bounded down another end of the street and came upon another gruesome sight of bodies. Most of these were humans but there were a few apes that were spotted here and there. Letting his dark green eyes scan the area, Grey's sights soon came upon two bodies that laid not too far from each other. Knuckle walking over slowly towards the two still forms, Grey noticed that they looked somewhat familiar. Reaching out to the both of them, Grey gently turned them over and was met with half lidded glassy eyes.

Meeting their dull eyes, Grey couldn't help himself as he quickly looked away, staring at anything else but those glassy eyes that seemed to stare endlessly into him. After recovering somewhat, Grey made an effort to slowly look back down at the deceased apes.

He knew these two young chimpanzees - Green Leaf and Woodrow. Two troublemakers who were often not very far from the other. Where one was sighted one could count that the other was very close by. Green Leaf and Woodrow both had a special connection to one another, something like a brotherly bond. It was akin to what Grey himself believed the young prince Blue Eyes had with his very own daughter's close friend - Ash. Witnessing the sight of these two young apes, taken from this world had really hurt Grey. Not physically but something much deeper. A feeling that he couldn't quite put to hand signs nor words.

They were never meant to be in a war, no ape should.

Kneeling downwards, Grey eased his arms under Green Leaf and gently lifted his body up, carrying his lithe body all the way back to the wagons where they were to put the bodies in. Setting Green Leaf's form down within the cart, Grey slowly turned back around and walked back to retrieve Woodrow's body. Finally placing Woodrow's bulkier form down with Green Leaf's lithe one, Grey stared at the two chimps, noticing how they both were were looking at each other with their glassy eyes. Heaving out a breath, Grey reached down with both of his hands and gently closed both Green Leaf's and Woodrow's eyelids fully, giving them the image of two young apes soundlessly sleeping. However Grey knew otherwise and his heart ached deeply for their loss.

Grey then glanced back up at the afternoon sky and stared at it, hoping that these two apes as well as the rest of their lost ones found peace at last, away from this harsh world that they were now thrown in.

Farewell young ones.

After the deed was done, Grey slowly backed away and proceeded to finish what he and the other apes had set out to do. To gather weapons, supplies and rest of their lost kin before the human soldiers arrived.

The whole process went long and well into the late afternoon, with the apes taking a break every now and then to gather themselves or take a momentary rest from all of what has happened to them. It was when Grey had noticed a hulking figure approach him, causing him to turn and face whomever it was. To his surprise, Grey noticed that the figure belonged to none other than that of Rex, one of the apes that seemed to have followed Pope and now was following Red instead.

He wondered what the gorilla wanted from him.

" _Have you made up your mind yet?_ " Rex asked as he looked down at the brown haired chimpanzee.

Heaving out a tired sigh, Grey casted his head down to the side, now understanding why Rex was there.

" _About Red's offer?_ " Grey questioned , not even facing the gorilla whom he heard grunted in confirmation, possibly nodding at the same time as well.

Taking in yet another deep breath, Grey turned to look up at Rex, his own dark green eyes full of determination.

" _I have already made my decision. I will need to speak with you, Red and the rest of the apes if we are to save our apes from Caesar's rule,_ " Grey signed closed to his chest, so that only Rex could see.

At this Rex huffed out an amused breath, nodding once in approval before laying a hand upon the brown haired chimpanzee's shoulder.

" _I knew you would make the right choice Grey. You will make a fine leader. Red chose well,_ " Rex complimented.

" _Too much ape blood were spilled during the battle and much more were lost just trying to save the humans whom never wanted out help in the first place. Caesar's love for humans… It will be nothing but cause destruction for the apes,_ " Grey explained, gesturing to the many ape bodies that were still strewn about the city streets to which Rex followed with his eyes. " _We will need a good plan if we are ever to escape Caesar's grasp for a better future,_ " Grey concluded.

" _Well said,_ " Rex complimented with a giant smile. " _What should I tell Red...? My king,_ " Rex asked finally.

" _Tell Red. To meet me on the human buildings. When the sun is about to disappear. There we will talk. Talk about what we need to do in order to save the rest of the apes. Until then, do as we were told by Caesar. To avoid suspicion from ape that follow Caesar,_ " Grey finished, earning a few pats on the shoulder from the bigger gorilla.

" _You will make a fine leader indeed,_ " Rex signed with a giant smile.

Seeing Rex beaming down at him, Grey couldn't help but offer a grin of his own. With that being said between the both of them, Rex turned around and proceeded to return to the job at hand, moving away from Grey. Watching Rex's hulking form take leave, Grey paused for a moment and stared up at the orange colored sky before letting his eyes wander back on over to where the human tower stood.

...

Taking Caesar's arm, Ellie hesitated briefly, hovering the needle right above the skin that held the vein underneath. She met Caesar's eyes momentarily and the ape leader merely huffed, nodding his head at her, giving her the okay. That was all the confirmation Ellie needed as took in a deep breath before silently sliding the needle into the ape leader's arm.

Maurice, Rocket and Luca all watched curiously, noting that Caesar's life blood flowed through the clear small tube, finally reaching the other end with a needle at the tip. Carefully Ellie maneuvered the other end over Koba's arm and just like she did with Caesar, inserted it into him as well.

"Keep your arm still and sit right here okay? I don't want you to move," Ellie said quietly as she gently guided Caesar onto the recliner chair that was moved to where Koba laid.

"How. Long?" Caesar asked, turning to look up at Ellie.

"A little while," Ellie responded softly, taking Caesar's hand and patting it. "If you feel any form of discomfort or anything wrong. You let me and the others know immediately. Alright?" Ellie finished, to which Caesar merely stared and nodded at her once.

Taking a deep breath, Ellie looked like she wanted to say something else but stopped herself. Looking away she stood up slowly and with Malcolm and Alex, gathered the medical equipment, silently taking their leave.

Watching the humans making their way down the hall and disappearing from sight, Rocket turned back to where Caesar sat and approached him. His emerald dark green eyes looked from Caesar's tired form to where Koba lay, panting in his sleep.

" _Caesar. Why?_ " Rocket questioned, turning back to meet his friend's eyes not understanding why Caesar was willing to do anything to help out this traitor.

"No more death. Apes. Must save. Apes," Caesar panted meeting Rocket's stern gaze.

Even though he did not like the situation that Caesar had put himself in with a burning passion. Rocket, with all of his heart, understood why Caesar would go through such lengths in doing this. He knows that Caesar was willing to sacrifice himself for all of them, to protect them, to heal them, at the expense of his own self and it annoyed Rocket to no end. Surprisingly enough this was probably a question that was brought up by Koba himself, if Rocket could recall.

"Why?!"

"Tried. To kill you!"

"I understand."

"Stop all this."

Those were the words that were exchanged between both Caesar and Koba while they stood at the top of the human tower. Koba, whose words were fueled with emotion contrasted to Caesar's who was fueled by rationality. Back then, surprising even him, Rocket had agreed with Koba for a brief moment, wondering why Caesar would spare Pope. The one ape who had tried to kill him and usurp his rule and leadership. But then again, that was what made Caesar Caesar, the single ape that was like them, yet so different in his way of thinking.

Caesar was willing to forgive and make peace, no matter what was done to him, be they humans or apes. Rocket himself comprehended why Caesar was like that but couldn't help himself as a thought entered his mind. How long would Caesar's forgiveness last? How long would his best friend and leader be able to endure such atrocities that were thrown at him? Before it reaches a breaking point? Before it finally tips Caesar over the edge, causing him to lose all sense of reason and hope? Rocket feared for that day to come and hopes that, that day, would never arrive for his friend. For Caesar deserved better than this.

Rocket watched as Caesar reached out, touched his shoulder then his cheek, a smile upon his features.

"You. Helped?" Caesar asked, indicating with a head nod down at Rocket's red stained hands.

Following Caesar's gaze, Rocket looked down at himself and had just now noticed the red colors that were upon his hands. Bringing his fist upwards, he stared at it for a moment, flexing his red stained fingers before turning his attention back to where Caesar sat.

" _Humans could not hold down Koba… Had to help,_ " Rocket explained himself begrudgingly, letting his eyes wander back to where Koba laid, still slightly panting.

Looking at Caesar again when he heard his friend give out a soft grunt, Rocket noticed that Caesar had beckoned him on over. Curiously, Rocket approached his old friend, wondering what Caesar had wanted from him. The other chimp then reached out and cupped the back of his head, slowly bringing both of their foreheads together.

"Thank you. My friend," Caesar spoke quietly.

The touching of heads, a symbol of trust. This was something that Caesar himself did not do often, only displaying it to the ones that he'd really cared for or put a lot of faith and hope in. This was the second time that day that Caesar had placed their foreheads upon each others. Feeling Caesar lifting his head away from him, Rocket glanced up at his friend's tired eyes, seeing the trust and warmth within them. Exhaling through his nose, Rocket eyed Koba's form once more but did nothing else. If Caesar was willing to forgive an ape then he too can learn as an example.

…

After his meal, Blue Eyes had taken the opportunity to just sit there and rest, letting his mind wander back to the events that had unfolded the past couple of days. Sniffing quietly to himself, Blue Eyes glanced around and noticed that he was not the only ape that was having these thoughts. The others had a forlorn look within their eyes as they stared at the ground or past the other apes while many of the young ones teetered around them. Those eyes, eyes that were remembering the horrors of their fight with the humans and what they had lost during the process, all because they wanted to avenge his father.

Oh, how stupid and gullible was he as well…

While he was deep within his own mind a hand had placed itself upon Blue Eyes' arm, causing him to blink and turn to see who it was. There with a concern look upon her face sat Lake the smaller female gazing up at him with her evergreen colored eyes.

" _Blue Eyes?What is the matter? Something wrong?_ " Lake asked worriedly.

Taking in a deep breath, Blue Eyes turned away from the female, avoiding her worried stare.

"Nothing is wrong," Blue Eyes signed close to his chest, so that Lake could see.

No… Everything was wrong, Blue Eyes had wanted to tell Lake. The apes, the humans, his family? Everything that used to be peaceful, joyful and full of merry times, gone within one single night. Now nothing else filled their hearts except fear and dread due to the news of human soldiers coming for them. What were they to do? His father had explained that they needed to prepare themselves but prepare themselves for what? They had never fought with humans before and with what Blue Eyes saw, they are more than capable of great destruction. Apes and humans died from both sides and for the ones that survived the battle were forever ruined as they lost loved ones. Many others will most likely ever be the same again due to the injuries that they've sustained. So no, everything is wrong and it scared him, and it frustrated him so to no end.

Feeling gentle hands cupping his face, Blue Eyes was then guided by them, letting his gaze fall back to where Lake was. To Blue Eyes' surprise he now saw a the smaller female silently shedding tears as she held onto his face. Why was Lake crying? Was she hurt? Was she in pain? What was going on? As more questions swirled within his mind, the sensation of a thumb caressing his wet cheek brought him out of his thoughts. Wet cheek? That wasn't right? Why was his cheek wet? Confused Blue Eyes blinked and he felt warmth flowing down the sides of his face. Reaching up slowly, Blue Eyes touched his face before bringing it back to see that they were wet from his own tears. Huffing quietly, Blue Eyes glanced back at Lake whom held her hands close to her bosom.

" _It's okay Blue Eyes. We are all scared,_ " Lake signed as she reached up to wipe away at her own tears with the back of her hand.

Was it that obvious that he was afraid? He'd thought he had hid it well. However Lake had seemed to have seen right through him. She had then seemed to share his pain as well, this pain that wasn't on the surface but something deeper. What was it that his uncle and teacher Maurice had told him earlier?

" _Pain is here on the surface,_ " Blue Eye recalled the orangutan's hand signs as he older ape traced his hands over his scars he received from the bear. " _Pain is here too, much deeper and not on the surface but inside,_ " Maurice had finished as he placed a finger upon the prince's temple and chest, where his heart pumped within him.

But how does one remedy such a pain like this one? What does an ape do when they were feeling this way? Was there ever a way to soothe such a thing?

Letting out a shuddering breath, Blue Eyes was about to say something to Lake but the young female instead reached out and hugged him, holding him tightly. Surprise was the first thing that ran through Blue Eyes' mind. However hearing Lake's small whimpers, Blue Eyes suddenly realised that he wasn't the only one that had suffered as well. Like him, Lake must have been put through quite a lot in the aftermath of what had happened to them. She and the other females had to tend and care for many of the injured after the battle. Not just that they must have also faced the fact that they couldn't save all of the apes, especially the ones that were beyond saving and had succumbed to their grievous wounds.

Oh how selfish was he in his way of thinking to have think that he was the only one that had suffered from all of this. Relaxing his body, Blue Eyes slowly wrapped his arms around Lake's small form and held her close to him. Placing his chin upon Lake's head, Blue Eyes closed his eyes and brought his hand up to hold the back of the female's head.

"I'm sorry," Blue Eyes apologized.

"Its. Okay. Not your. Fault," Lake answered back, moving her head to look up at Blue Eyes.

Surprisingly enough, what Lake had said to him rang true. For the apes to see a better future, they must indeed face this hardship that lay before them. And to overcome this unknown pain, they must be there for one another, like Lake was here for Blue Eyes now and he vice versa.

Hearing approaching footsteps, both Blue Eyes and Lake turned their heads when they noticed an older looking female chimpanzee with an elegant slender form with dark hair that almost seemed like it was gleaming under the sun's light. What stood out about this older female though were her evergreen eyes that seemed to glow, a stark resemblance of Lake's very own eyes. With a sniff, Lake separated herself from Blue Eyes and dried her tears before making her way on over towards the older female.

" _Mother,_ " Lake greeted with a sad smile.

" _Lake,_ " the older female signed before she brought her daughter close in for a hug, her movements full of affection as she cradled Lake. "What is the matter Lake? Did you hurt yourself? What is wrong?" the female asked.

From where Blue Eyes stood, he could see both mother and child signing to one another before the older female had a look of understanding before she directed her attention to him and slowly walked over.

" _Hello Blue Eyes,_ " the female greeted.

" _Hello aunt Judy,_ " Blue Eyes signed back.

There was a call in the distance and the three apes turned around, seeing a group of females looking in their direction. Turning back around slowly to look at the two youngsters, Judy couldn't help but let a small frown cross her features.

" _Is something wrong mother?_ " Lake asked curiously, wondering why her mother looked so troubled.

" _Many apes are still injured Lake. Not enough ape healers to go around,_ " Judy explained sadly, disheartened to have to come retrieve her daughter for such terrible things, especially when Lake was having a moment with the one chimpanzee whom she had a certain fondness for.

Holding her hands close towards her bosom, a look of sadness crossed Lake's features while she looked up at her mother. Glancing around, Lake could see that many of their injured still needed to be tended to and as much as she wanted to spend time with Blue Eyes, her duty was to the apes first. What she wanted would have to come later. With yet another defeated sigh, Lake turned to look apologetically at Blue Eyes, offering him a sad smile.

" _I am sorry Blue Eyes, but I have to go help my mother and the other apes,_ " Lake explained. " _Maybe if you are free when I am done. We can meet up with each other again?_ " Lake offered.

Understanding well that duties often calls, Blue Eyes nodded and looked away from the smaller female. Hearing Lake approach him, Blue Eyes then felt Lake's hand upon his chest before it moved up to touch his cheek. Meeting her gaze, Blue Eyes could see the serene and apologetic look she was giving him. Leaning slightly into her touch, Blue Eyes was quite disappointed when Lake finally removed her hand away from his face and started to walk back to where the healers were with her mother.

Watching the two females take their leave, Blue Eyes unconsciously reached up and touched the side of his face where Lake had her hand there. Watching Lake take her leave though, Blue Eyes suddenly felt… Empty, like something that kept his complete was being pulled away from him. Like a part of him was leaving him behind. He couldn't place this feeling, but spending time with Lake was one of the greatest things that had happened to him, since all of this had started. With Lake, Blue Eyes could feel at ease, comforted by her presence, as if her being there abated those ill feelings that he held deep within him.

Huffing, Blue Eyes finally turned away from both mother and daughter to look elsewhere. To his surprise though Blue Eyes spotted Ash and Maple in the distance. In his curiousity, Blue Eyes could make out Ash helping the brown haired female wrapping up one of their injured ape's arms. Once they had finished patching up the injured ape, Maple had congratulated the bigger male and kissed him upon the cheek. Watching those two work together had suddenly reminded Blue Eyes of his father's words. Those words that were yelled out by his would be then, deranged uncle - Koba.

Apes. Together. Strong.

As if knowing that Blue Eyes was watching them, Ash had sighted the young prince and waved ecstatically back at him. Letting out an amused huff, Blue Eyes waved once back at his friend and honorary brother before he turned away from him. Thinking upon it Blue Eyes then let his gaze fall back to where both Lake and her mother was still walking away. As his thoughts wandered back to Ash helping Maple, Blue Eyes understood what he needed to do and he bounded after both Lake and her mother.

" _Let me help,_ " Blue Eyes gestured as he skidded to a stop in front of both Judy and Lake, startling the two females.

" _Blue Eyes?_ " Lake signed confusingly.

" _I want to help. Help you, help apes,_ " Blue Eyes signed, panting with every breath he took and for some reason his heart was hammering from within his chest as he stood there.

"Help?" Lake asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes. Help," Blue Eyes answered back with his own voice, full of determination.

Curiously, Lake paused to think for a moment before she turned to look up at her mother. The older female however had a warm smile set upon her lips and she slowly turned to look at Lake as well before turning her gaze back on over to where Blue Eyes stood.

" _Of course Blue Eyes. You can help Lake. Come, follow. We will will need your strength,_ " Judy informed the young prince as she walked passed him.

Upon seeing this, a genuine smile spread upon Blue Eye's face and he turned to look at Lake whom couldn't help but beam right back at him. He then watched as Lake slowly walked on over to where he stood and gently took his hand into hers, holding onto it tightly. She smiled up at him and together they both made their way to where the rest of the apes healers were at.

…

Hissing in pain, Koba drew his hands back from the cold water from the river and stared down at them. They were filled with bruises and cuts, and for the life of him he could not remember how he got them. Closing his hands into tight fists, the bonobo lowered his arms down to his side and looked around himself, wondering where he was. To his surprise all Koba could see was a thick dense fog that surrounding him from all sides, leaving just him by the river's side that was visible. Why was he out here? All alone? Away from the safety of their home back within the forest? Usually he'll be within his hut and or within the colony grounds but for some reason he found himself all alone today.

Curiously, Koba's good eye finally travelled back down to where his image reflected off from the water's surface and stared down at it. Unsurprisingly, Koba could see a broken and miserable looking bonobo, staring back at him. With bruises and cuts that also marred his face, along with the noticeable scar that ran down his left eye, leaving it blind. The longer he stared at his atrocious reflection the more Koba hated it, he was but a reminder to the apes that humans were nothing but cruel and took what they wanted from him, no matter what damage they did. It made him sick and thus was the driving force for him to keep all the humans away from the apes, lest they suffer the same fate as he did.

While looking down at his reflection, ripples suddenly disturbed the water's surface, surprising Koba. Snapping his head up, Koba looked around to see what could have caused the ripples. Letting his gaze wander around, Koba himself had let out a low growl before he took in a deep breath and eyed his reflection again. To his surprise the ape that stared back at him was shedding tears, his tears, and with a blink a few droplets caused another series of ripples to disturb the water's surface.

Sniffing loudly, Koba reached up with one arm and furiously wiped at his eyes to rid himself of this weakness that he was suddenly displaying. Letting out a small whimper, Koba glanced back down at his reflection, wondering why he was crying all of a sudden. What had caused this spontaneous emotion of sadness within him? The pain was unbearable and he could not figure out why or where it had come from. Yet, for some reason this pain that settled within his heart was very familiar, as if he's experienced it before.

Lowering his arm, Koba looked back down at his reflection and was quite startled to not see not himself, but the image of another ape, one that bore crosshatched scars upon the left side of his face. Stunned, Koba was staring down at Pope, whom seemed to sneer at him from within the water.

"Ape. Not kill. Ape," Pope's voice seemed to echo all around Koba.

Panting slightly, Koba winced when he heard a loud explosion that seemed to be coming from beneath him. Looking around frantically, Koba had suddenly found himself standing atop of a girder, high atop of the human tower. Everywhere he looked though his vision was filled with that of the raging flames that danced all around him. Coughing and sputtering, Koba tried to run away from the fire, quardrapeding across the girder and jumping off of it, landing hard onto the concrete floor that jutted out of the side of the building. There was another roar and a explosion as flames rose from where he had stood just momentarily before, engulfing the girder within it.

Getting up slowly from his spot Koba was now panting and confused all at the same time. Wincing and falling onto his knees, Koba had looked down at himself as he noticed scars starting to appear on his body with blood running down them. The pain, it was immeasurable as he suddenly convulsed within himself, groaning loudly as his back, torso, arms and legs all flared through him.

While in the throes of his newly acquired scars and injuries a shadowy figure was running towards Koba. With heaving breath, Koba glanced up when he heard pounding footsteps and was suddenly knocked backwards onto the ground. Before he could recover himself the figure had suddenly landed on top of him and wrapped its hands around his neck. Gasping for air, Koba reached upwards and try to pry his attacker's hands off of him. Unfortunately his attacker did not let go of his hold and when Koba glanced upwards to see who it was, his eyes widened at who he saw. To his shock, Koba's attacker was none other than Pope, bloodied and beaten, whom was baring his fangs as he glared back down at him.

"Po-pe?" Koba gasped.

"Ape! Not Kill! Ape!" Pope seethed through his clenched teeth as he tightened his grip upon Koba's neck.

Trying his best to pry Pope's hands off of his neck, Koba's vision started to flicker in and out as he looked up at his attacker. Oddly enough as his vision started to fade, Pope's image slowly morphed into that of Caesars, confusing him. It seemed like both of the chimpanzees were choking the life out of him, both working together as one being. No longer having the strength to fight back against his aggressors, Koba's hands fell down to the sides as he allowed both of the chimpanzees to end him, closing his eyes finally.

...

With an upstart, Koba heaved out a gasp, as his eyes flew open. Breathing heavily, Koba looked around frantically, wondering as to what and where he was. Grunting and hissing, Koba flinched as his body screamed during his sudden movement.

"Koba," a familiar voice called out, causing the bonobo to go still.

Panting, Koba's good and blind eye wandered on over to where he had heard the voice and was stunned to see Caesar, as well as the other apes standing there, all looking at him.

"Ce… Cea… Ceazar?" Koba slurred as pain flared every time he tried to move his mouth to speak.

"Koba," Caesar answered in a tired but hopeful voice.

Breathing hard, Koba recollected himself and laid back down, unable to even move as he kept his gaze upon Caesar. Letting his eyes wander around, Koba tried to get a sense of where he was at but all he saw was an unfamiliar setting, which confused him even more. Why was he here, all injured and unable to move?

As he tried to remember as best as he could, images of screaming in pain and hands touching him resurfaced back into his mind. Scrunching his face up at those brief flashes of images, Koba had shut his eyes tightly before he heard movement a few feet away from him. Cracking open his good eye, Koba looked to whom had entered the room and was quite shocked to see three humans standing in the hallway entrance.

With the appearance of the humans, memories that Koba himself was trying to recall, came flooding back into him. Memories of hearing that piercing gunfire in the dark that started everything. Caesar's death. The attack on the humans. Almost killing Ash. Refusing to listen to Maurice. Pope's betrayal and lies. Caesar's voice stopping him from killing Pope. Happiness that Caesar was alive. Disappointment at Caesar's forgiveness and wrong way to lead the apes. His fight with Caesar. Caesar telling him that he belonged in a cage, hurting him more than he could ever know. The tower's collapse. Pope firing a gun at Caesar and the others. Him taking action and knocking the crazed chimpanzee off of the ledge. Caesar trying to hold onto him. Him letting go to save his Caesar.

"Caesar. I…" Koba voiced, turning to look at the ape leader.

What Koba saw though was Caesar's stern face, staring back at him with those piercing golden green orbs. Silence fell between all of them and Koba knew that no matter what he'd say to Caesar, his words were nothing to the ape leader now. Instead, Koba casted his gaze downwards and heaved out a weary sigh. Most likely Caesar was disappointed and furious for what he had done to the apes. As the silence drew one the sound of creaking floorboards caught everyone's attention.

"Caesar we need to check on him," Koba heard the human woman speak.

"Yes," Caesar simply responded, keeping his gaze upon Koba as the bonobo brought his gaze back up to glare at the humans.

Seeing the human approach him, Koba's breathing hitched and he tried to sit up, to back away from the the creature that had caused him so much pain and misery. The human woman had paused for a moment when Rocket and Luca stepped in, ready to defend her from Koba if necessary. To everyone's surprise though, the woman simply laid her hands upon both Luca and Rocket's shoulders, nodding at them once before moving on towards the injured bonobo.

"It's okay. I am not going to hurt you," the woman spoke aloud in a soft and gentle voice.

"Human… Lies!" Koba wheezed, trying to sit up and baring his fangs at her.

Again Rocket and Luca made to move but the woman simply held her palm out to them, reassuring them that all was well. Taking in a deep breath, the woman sat on her knees next to the couch that contained the injured ape and made eye contact with the bonobo.

"No. No lies. I promise. No one is going to hurt you," the woman reassured.

Koba's breathing quickened as he saw the human woman slowly reached out towards him and placed her hand upon his scarred arm. If he was not so injured, he would have lunged at the human and ripped her face off with his bare hands, even if Luca and Rocket were to jump in. She was lucky that he was in no position to do so. However to his surprise, the human was rubbing and patting his arm gently, like a mother would often do when their child is hurt or in distress.

"It's going to be okay. You don't need to be scared. I'm going to help you okay," the woman explained as she offered him a smile.

Confused by this, Koba let his eyes wander on over to where the others stood and he saw both Maurice and Caesar nodding at him. Panting still, Koba looked away for a moment before he glared back at the human, relaxing his body a little bit. Seeing this as an okay the human woman started to tend to his wounds.

…

While he observed Ellie taking care of Koba, Caesar turned to his right as the orangutan neared him, curiously looking at the iv that connected to both he and the bonobo.

" _It worked. Your blood. Saved Koba,_ " Maurice beamed, causing a smile to spread upon Caesar's lips as well.

"Yes. It did," Caesar answered back tiredly, noticing that Koba was looking at him from the corner of his eyes.

" _Even we apes did not know that such a thing was possible. Could it work for all apes I wonder?_ " Maurice kept on signing as he took a closer look.

Caesar himself did not know that answer Maurice's question. Maybe Ellie and or if his human father was still around, could probably enlighten them with the details about blood sharing. But even then, it was a dangerous process if Caesar himself could recall, one that they need to understand more.

With that thought in mind though, Caesar and the other's noticed that Ellie had finished tending to Koba as she had patiently waited for Caesar and Maurice to finish with their talk. Fully giving her his attention, Caesar looked down at the human woman.

"Caesar, it's been over an hour. We need to take that off. You've done more than enough," Ellie explained.

Looking down at his left arm, Caesar couldn't believe that an hour has already gone on by. Of course he had become severely tired throughout the whole process but the others wouldn't let him sleep nor would their human friends allow it either. During that time though, Ellie had instructed Caesar to take in some food and drink some water, in which he did of course. Now knowing that Koba was alright for the time being, Caesar presented his arm in which Ellie medically pulled the iv from his arm out and quickly bandaged it up.

"Are you in pain Caesar? Does it hurt anywhere?" Ellie asked quietly to which Caesar merely shook his head.

"Just. Very tired," Caesar huffed back.

"I bet," Ellie said aloud in just as much of tiredness to her voice as Caesar's. "I can't believed it worked. You've done amazingly well Caesar. There's no words to put on how happy and proud I am at what you did," she praised.

Gathering up her equipment, Ellie took one last glance at Koba, whom simply look at her still before meeting Caesar's gaze once more.

"Make sure that both you eat and drink lots of water alright? Rest easy now," Ellie said slowly as she reached out and placed a hand upon Caesar's shoulder.

With that said from the human woman the other apes step aside as Ellie walked back on over to where Malcolm and Alexander had kept a vigil watch upon them from the hallway entrance.

With a sigh, Caesar sat down onto one of the reclining chairs and turned to look at Koba who had kept quiet still all this time. After a brief moment, Caesar turned back to look at Maurice, Rocket and Luca.

" _We need to go back to the apes. It is getting very late and they will start wondering where I have disappeared off to,_ " Caesar signed.

" _Caesar, are you well enough to make it back to the tower? You are still very weak from giving Koba blood,_ " Maurice explained.

" _I do not have a choice. I must show strength and guide the apes,_ " Caesar gestured back.

Maurice, Rocket and Luca all glanced at one another. They all knew that if Caesar had his mind set on something there was nothing that could stop him. With a grunt, Rocket step forward and pounded his chest once with his fist.

" _If that is what you want Caesar. You have my support,_ " Rocket signed earning a smile from the ape leader

" _And if you fall, I will be there to pick you up until we reach the apes,_ " Luca jumped in gaining a nod from Caesar himself.

" _What about Koba and the humans. Not safe to leave them here with him,_ " Rocket gestured, taking the moment to glare at the injured ape momentarily before looking at the others again.

There was noise and they all turned to look at Maurice whom was rubbing his chin before his beady green eyes turned to look on over at Koba and then back at them.

" _I will stay here for the time being. Keep an eye on Koba. You three are needed back with the apes much more than me,_ " Maurice offered.

" _You sure?_ " Luca questioned the older orangutan to which Maurice merely grunted and nodded with a smile.

" _I have done this many times before, This will be no different,_ " Maurice answered with a smile while both Rocket and Luca hesitantly looked at one another, feeling uneasy about leaving the orangutan behind. " _I can take care of myself. Always have. Always will. The trouble is not here, but out there, in the unseen,_ " Maurice indicated, pointing out at the window towards the dark orange and red colored sky.

Both Rocket and Luca followed Maurice's hand and they too gazed out at the world outside. The older orangutan was right. The trouble was not here right now but out there, where the human soldiers were coming for them. And they all needed to prepare of what is to come.

" _Go. The apes need your guidance Caesar. I only wish you were in better condition to do so. In the meantime. Rest easy for the rest of the night,_ " Maurice advised, placing a hand upon his old friend's shoulder, gaining a nod from his king.

After speaking with Caesar, Maurice then turned to face both Rocket and Luca, looking at them both in the eyes.

" _You two support Caesar. For he needs both of your strengths now, more than ever,_ " Maurice informed with a sad smile.

With that both Rocket and Luca nodded in unison before they both pounded their chests with with one closed fist, over their heart, signifying that they both understood with absolution. Smiling at them both, Maurice then slowly turned to look at Caesar.

" _Be well my friend,_ " Maurice signed.

" _We will see each other soon,_ " Caesar signed back before stepping in and placing both his and Maurice's foreheads together. " _Take care of the humans and Koba,_ " Caesar gestured as he pulled back, gaining a nod from the orangutan.

With that said between all of them, Caesar, Rocket and Luca made their way out of the house.

"Wait! Where you guys going off to?" Malcolm called out from the end of the hallway as he heard the apes leaving.

Caesar paused momentarily to look behind him as Malcolm, Ellie and Alexander came running up to them.

"Apes. Need me," Caesar breathed.

"Caesar… You're in no condition to be moving around," Ellie said aloud in a worried tone.

Caesar however merely turned to look at the small human family and offered them a small smile.

"Thank you. For all. You have done," Caesar said simply before he turned around and started to walk away.

Malcolm, Ellie and Alex however hugged one another as they watched Caesar, Rocket and Luca taking their leave.

"Caesar," a voice spoke out, causing the family of three to quickly turn around, surprised to see Maurice there. "Will be. Fine," he finished.

The family stared in awe and shock at the orangutan as this was the second time he's ever said anything to them.

"The surprises never end. Do they?" Malcolm sighed before a smile enveloped his face, with it spreading upon Elllie's and Alexander's as well.

Back in the room, Koba had kept his eyes shut tightly and sniffed quietly to himself while everyone else was distracted, allowing one single tear to fall from his closed lids.

...

As nightfall finally came upon them, the apes all hid themselves among the human city remains for the evening. Tinker, along with Cornelia and the rest of the apes healers were just finishing up for the rest of the evening, preparing to continue their work tomorrow. While she was helping them clean, Tinke glanced up and noticed something dark moving along the building's shadows, climbing upwards upon them. Squinting her eyes she tried to make out to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her. After a long while of seeing nothing else, Tinker waved the thought away and resumed her task at hand.

While in the middle of her duties, a series of hoots had caught Tinker's attention. Rising up from her spot, Tinker looked back to where Cornelia had stood as well, making eye contact with her friend before the two quietly strode to stand at the top of the stone steps. Both of the females observed a crowd of apes as they all hooted and shouded before they bowed unanimously as several apes walked among them. Letting out a small gasp, Tinker unconsciously reached out and took Cornelia's hand as they both gazed down upon the familiar apes making their way towards them.

Tinker's eyes became wet when she sighted Caesar, Luca and finally, her Rocket, whom was now standing at the base of the stone steps and looking up at her. With a small hoot, Tinker quickly descended the steps and practically threw herself upon the male that awaited her, wrapping her arms as much as she could around the bigger male's torso. Taking in Rocket's familiar scent, Tinker buried her face into her mate's hairless chest as the male wrapped his strong arms around her, embracing her and holding onto her smaller body.

"Rocket," Tinker whispered tenderly."My. Dear. Rocket."

"Tinker," Rocket answered back just as affectionately in his unique grunting voice that Tinker was so very fond of.

Reaching up with her hand, Tinker placed it upon her mate's cheek and looked up at him, meeting his eyes with hers. Rocket however reached up as well and placed his hand over Tinker's, leaning into her touch with his eyes closed. The two chimpanzees stayed like that for a moment before Rocket opened his eyelids halfway while Tinker couldn't help but huffed out happily as tears fell from her eyes. Both rubbed foreheads momentarily before Tinker drew her head back and leaned upwards, placing a gentle kiss upon Rocket's lips.

" _I see you Rocket,_ " Tinker signed.

" _I see you Tinker,_ " Rocket signed back before he nuzzled Tinker's cheek with his snout, causing the smaller female to let out a small series of pant laughters.

The two were then interrupted as they felt a set of arms wrapping around them, tightly squeezing them into a hug. Knowing exactly who this newcomer was, Tinker turned to smile up at her son whom grinned back at her with his eyes closed. Reaching out, Tinker embraced her only child and kissed Ash atop his head, happy that her family was whole again.

Letting her gaze wander away from Rocket and Ash for a moment, Tinker glanced back to where Cornelia was. She smiled when she saw that Cornelia, Caesar, Blue Eyes and their little one - Cornelius were all embracing each other lovingly as well. With a sigh of contempt, Tinker looked back up at her mate and laid her head upon Rocket's shoulder, holding onto him as they all watched Caesar and the others separating from one another.

Soon enough after their reunion, both of the families turned in for the evening, as they were all weary both physically and emotionally. The rest of the apes that stayed in the city did the same, with them all finding a safe area to sleep for the night.

Settling herself next to Rocket, Tinker laid her hands upon his broad chest while Rocket himself draped his arm over her protectively. Smiling, Tinker lifted her head just slightly just to see Ash's form just on the other side of them, sleeping soundlessly. Seeing that their child was safe and sound, Tinker laid her head back down and closed her eyes as she snuggled closer to her Rocket. Tinker relished in the presence of her two boys and hoped that no harm would befall either of them, so long as she lived. With that thought in mind, sleep finally came for Tinker as well as the rest of the apes for that evening.

* * *

 **OC Apes mentioned in this chapter.**

 **Judy \- Mother of Lake and Andy's mate.**

 **Noble \- Jeanpierre's eldest son.**

 **Green Leaf \- 1st Young chimpanzee that Grey recovered.**

 **Woodrow \- 2nd Young chimpanzee that Grey recovered.**


	19. Chapter 19

With the next day along with the rising sun, Caesar had gathered what little of his new inner circle of apes together and discussed his plans in preparation for the human soldiers. During this time, Cornelia, Tinker, Judy and a few other females were busy with the care of their still many injured. Pausing for the moment in her duties, Cornelia glanced back at her mate and could see that he was rather paler than usual and seemed as if he could barely even stand on his own two feet.

The sound of soft approaching footsteps drew Cornelia back from her staring and she turned to see Tinker, walking up to her. Cornelia watched as the petite female had stopped just right beside her and beamed up at her before Tinker soon took notice of Cornelius rocking steadily behind Cornelia's back. Shooting a warm smile at the small prince, Tinker glanced back up at Cornelia before she reached out towards the little one. In an instant, Cornelius leaped from his mother, right on over towards his honorary aunt's open arms.

Cradling Cornelius close to her person and letting the young prince play with her necklace, consisting of small beads and wiry rings, Tinker had then turned her attention back on over towards Cornelia once more, curious as to what her friend was looking at. It didn't take long for Tinker to notice the concern in Cornelia's face as she followed her friend's gaze right on over to where Caesar stood. When she had sighted Caesar, Tinker herself could see how sickly her friend and leader look before she turned back to face Cornelia.

" _Caesar does not look well,_ " Tinker signed, noticing Cornelia taking in a deep breath before huffing out.

" _I agree,_ " Cornelia gestured back, stealing a quick look at her mate before turning back towards Tinker.

" _Do you think it was because of Koba?_ " Tinker asked, signing close so that the others could not see her signing the bonobo's name.

" _I do not know… All I know is that Caesar looks very ill,_ " Cornelia answered.

" _What will you do?_ " Tinker asked as she adjusted Cornelius in her arms as he played with her necklace.

" _I will have a word with my husband,_ " Cornelia responded, turning to meet Tinker's apprehensive face.

Tinker glanced back at Caesar for a quick moment before she turned to look at Cornelia once more, worried about her friend.

" _It will be difficult to make him listen to you,_ " Tinker cautioned, weary at what her friend will do.

" _Do not worry, I can take care of myself,_ " Cornelia signed back with a small smile before her gaze wandered on down to her little Cornelius and she affectionately rubbed her hand down his back. " _Watch my little son for me?_ "

Instead of answering , Tinker merely bowed her head once at her good friend and queen before she quietly stepped aside. Feeling a finger under her chin, Cornelia brought Tinker's face upwards and smiled down at her before she silently quadruped away from her. Heaving out a worried sigh, Tinker could do nothing but only watch from afar as she held the little prince within her arms.

As Caesar was busily directing the apes on what to do, one side of the inner circle slowly parted, causing him to pause in his instructions and turn to see who had joined them. To his surprise, Cornelia was there, looking at him with her stern leafy colored eyes. Standing there for a moment, Caesar noticed something about his mate and turned back to the apes, asking them to leave and fulfill their duties. Within seconds the rest of the apes quickly dispersed, leaving Caesar, Cornelia and just a few others standing there still.

" _Cornelia what is the matter?_ " Caesar asked as he approached her, stopping right in front of the smaller female.

Cornelia however stared up at him for a long while, looking him over before she reached out and placed a hand upon his cheek.

" _Caesar… You do not look well. You need rest,_ " Cornelia gestured slowly as she looked her mate over.

At this, Caesar huffed out, closing his eyes momentarily as he took Cornelia's hands into his.

" _I am fine. You should take care of yourself and Cornelius,_ " Caesar reassured, meeting Cornelia's eyes.

Slowly Caesar made to turn around but felt a firm hand, taking a hold of his arm, effectively stopping him. Turning back around slowly, Caesar looked upon his mate once more.

" _Caesar stop. You must rest,_ " Cornelia signed angrily.

At this, Caesar couldn't help but set his mouth into a deep frown with his brows furrowing as he fully turned towards Cornelia to address her.

" _Cornelia, you know I can not. There is much to do and we must-_ "

"Rest Caesar!" Cornelia cut off her mate, noticing Caesar's eyes going wide slightly before they turned hard and cold as he stared down at her.

At this display, Caesar had thought he had gotten his point across when Cornelia lowered her gaze while bringing her arms close to her chest. That however was quickly abated as she suddenly glared back up at him with her leafy green eyes, much to his surprise.

" _How long do you plan to do this to yourself?_ " Cornelia questioned with a sniff her eyes watering over.

Caesar however stared at his mate incredulously, unsure of what she was getting at.

" _You think I don't know do you?_ " Cornelia signed at Caesar, causing his brow to raise slightly. " _You think that I don't know how dangerous the human soldiers are. That I don't know what humans are capable of. That I am being selfish,_ " Cornelia continued, a couple of tears now falling from her eyes.

All of the apes nervously glanced at one another while they watched both their king and queen having their dispute. Rocket and Luca however momentarily met each others eyes. Stealing another glance at both Caesar and Cornelia, Luca signed to Rocket and the nearly hairless chimpanzee nodded back in return.

" _I do know how dangerous the human soldiers are. That the apes need to prepare and must have your guidance. That you need and want to protect all of us. But… You need to look out for yourself too Caesar,_ " Cornelia explained as she reached up slowly and hovered her hand over the bullet wound upon Caesar's chest. " _What will happen to the apes… To your sons? To me? If we lose you too?_ " Cornelia signed to her Caesar, meeting his gaze.

The two apes kept their eyes locked upon each other before Cornelia lowered hers and she took Caesar's hands into her.

" _I never ask anything of you… But I am asking now. Please rest. Just for today. Let Rocket, Luca and Andy take care of the apes,_ " Cornelia finished, hoping that Caesar would do as she had asked of him.

Letting out a weary huff, Caesar then felt a strong hand placing itself upon his shoulder, causing him to look at whomever put it there. Unsurprisingly enough, it was Rocket who maneuvered himself so that he stood to their side.

" _Cornelia is right Caesar,_ " Rocket signed while Caesar blinked slowly at the bulkier chimpanzee. " _Go. You need food and rest. You cannot lead apes the way you are now. Maurice asked Luca and I to take care of you and we shall,_ " Rocket gestured to his friend.

" _We already know what to do Caesar. You've made your plans very clear. Leave the rest to us,_ " Luca grunted whilst pounding a fist onto his chest.

Feeling a bit outnumbered here, Caesar glanced at every one of the apes within his new inner circle and they all nodded at him, reassuring him that all would be well in his absence. Closing his golden green eyes in defeat and letting out a tired sigh, Caesar opened them back up and nodded at them. With that, Rocket and Luca then barked at the other apes and lead them away from their king and queen.

Turning back to face Cornelia, seeing her wiping away at her tear streaked face, a sudden pang of shame and guilt overcame him. He had been so focused in trying to help his apes, preparing them for what was to come. That he did not even realize that he himself was hurting his family and love. Seeing Cornelia so hurt by his actions, he couldn't help but reach out to his mate and pulled her in close into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry," Caesar apologized, rubbing his cheek atop of Cornelia's head. "I'm so sorry," he breathed softly as he pulled back and wiped away at Cornelia's tears with his thumb.

Hearing Caesar's apologies for making her worry, Cornelia couldn't help but let out a few sobs as she buried her head into Caesar's chest once more, glad that he was listening to her. After a moment, Cornelia had pulled back slightly and slowly reached up to cup Caesar's face. She then pulled his head down so that his forehead laid upon hers as they both stood there.

After a brief moment, Caesar had straightened up and smiled tiredly down at Cornelia who returned the gesture with her own. Cornelia had then reached on over and took his hand into hers as she slowly lead them away from the rest of the apes.

…

It had been a few sun cycles since Caesar, Rocket and Luca had left them to go back to the apes. After they had taken their leave, Maurice and the small human family had gone back into the house to check in on Koba, only to find that the bonobo was soundlessly asleep. Taking that as a sign to rest up as well, the occupants of the house had decided to call it a night and went to their respective resting areas, not without Maurice getting treated first by the worried nurse - Ellie first of course.

When the next few days came on by, Maurice had expected Koba to be up and about but to his surprise he found that the bonobo was still unconscious. Concerned, Maurice had made his way on over to where Koba slept and lightly shook the other ape, in hopes to possibly wake him up. When Koba didn't respond to him, Maurice was about to try a little harder before he felt soft smaller hands taking hold of his own. Turning to see who it was, Maurice was surprised to see Ellie standing there with a finger to her lips. Understanding that gesture, Maurice himself eased back away quietly and watched as Ellie quickly examined the unconscious ape on the sofa. Before long, the human woman turned back around and offered him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. Your friend here is fine… He's just resting," Ellie explained in a quiet voice.

Maurice eyed Koba's still sleeping form for a moment longer before he turned to look up at Ellie and with a low croaking noise, nodded at her. Maurice himself wasn't quite sure what was wrong with Koba but this was the human whom had helped both Cornelia and Caesar heal from their sickness and injuries. Who had informed him that all was going to be well. Heaving out a final sigh, Maurice nodded back to Ellie, putting all of his faith and trust in her.

Throughout those several days, Maurice merely became an observer as he watched Ellie and Malcolm tend to the unconscious Koba. He watched as they renewed his bandages, cleaned his wounds and for some reason wrapped both his left arm and leg tightly in some strange cloth that was hard to the touch. Throughout all this, Maurice was sort of glad that Koba had been unconscious during the whole process. The injured bonobo would have never allowed the humans to ever touch him, most likely injuring the humans and himself even further. Once they had finished, Maurice had followed both Ellie and Malcolm into the back room of the house, where Alexander was usually at. Like the boy, Maurice was delighted to see him and would always greet Alex warmly, like a old friend every time.

It wasn't until late evening during the fifth sun cycle, after the fight upon the human tower, when the occupants were visited by Rocket and Luca, whom came to check on the status of everyone. It was there where Maurice had learned of Caesar's plans from his two friends. They were to send some of the wounded and females back into the forest, gather their dead and weapons for the soldiers that were coming for them. At this Maurice thought about it and it seemed like a good plan but a nagging thought at the end of his mind kept tugging at him, asking him that what if Caesar's plan did not go through? What would they do then? Speaking of Caesar, when Maurice had inquired about their leader, both Rocket and Luca had assured him that Caesar was doing just fine, that he was now properly resting thanks to Cornelia. Maurice couldn't help but smile at the thought of Cornelia. If there was any ape that would get Caesar to properly do something it would be the queen herself.

As the sky had darkened by the end of the day, Maurice hesitantly had to go back with Rocket and Luca, to at least make an appearance among with the other apes to avoid suspicion since he had been gone for a while now. Much to his surprise though, Luca had offered himself to stay with the humans and Koba, not take no for an answer. The silverback had stated that he had already spoken to Caesar about this and that the Gorilla Guard would be fine without him as he entrusted Ajax to keep an eye on them. As Luca spoke about Ajax he couldn't help but pound his chest proudly, knowing well that the young gorilla that he had mentioned would be more than capable of handling things while he was away.

With a defeated sigh, Maurice had to convey his leave to Malcolm and the others. They understood that his presence was needed back among the apes and wished him a safe trip back. Maurice however promised that he would return in the morning and with that was rewarded with a small smile from Alexander. Before he left though, Ellie had stepped forward and adjusted the bandaging that was wrapped around his head.

Things had been quite the same upon his return to the apes, seeing that their injured were still many and more apes had gone off to retrieve more food for them during that time. Maurice had met up with Cornelia and Tinker, relieved to see his two friends were doing well, despite the on-goings around that required their constant attention. Much later that evening, Maurice and the others were soon joined by a very tired looking Caesar who for the most part looked to have a bit more color to him, thankfully. The leader had inquired about the condition on Koba and their human friends to which Maurice informed that they were doing well, despite Koba whom had been unconscious throughout the whole day. Upon mentioning the bonobo though, Maurice had noticed Cornelia keeping her eyes upon him while Tinker held onto Rocket just a little bit tighter.

Soon enough all of the apes had tuned out for the rest of the evening and Maurice laid upon his new makeshift cot, staring up at the starry sky. He did not know what the future may bring him nor the rest of the apes. However he did hope that they will all find a way out of this and maybe establish peace instead of war with the human soldiers that were coming. With a deep sigh, Maurice closed his beady green eyes and allowed rest to take him for the rest of the night.

...

The next morning, Maurice had gotten up and gathered what kinds of food he can to take back to the humans and Koba, if he were even awake. He knew that they didn't have much but the least he can do was provide them with at least something to eat and drink. He had met up with a much awake Caesar and Rocket whom were getting ready to direct the apes on what to do. Upon seeing him the two chimpanzees halted in what they were doing and made their way on over towards him.

" _You going back to the others?_ " Caesar asked, with Maurice nodding in confirmation.

Maurice could see that Caesar had wanted to come along but he was very much needed here still, to instill a sense of hope for the apes that were all suffering very much so.

" _Need me to come with you?_ " Rocket offered to which Maurice merely held up a hand and shook his head slowly.

" _No need. You both are still needed here,_ " Maurice smiled as he signed to the both of them. " _I will send Luca back as fast as I can, so that he can help as well,_ " Maurice finished.

With that said between the three of them, Maurice turned around and made the trek all the way back to where Caesar's old human home was. It had taken him quite a bit but eventually the orangutan came upon the familiar looking street that lead down to the house that was covered in vines and leaves. Making his way up the small steps, Maurice lightly rapt at the door and waited patiently. Soon enough the door flung open and there stood a menacing looking gorilla that which was Luca. Upon seeing him, Luca's fierce scowl melted away into that of simplicity and he quickly stepped away to allow Maurice into the home.

" _Hello Luca. How are you_?" Maurice asked once the door was closed behind him and gaining a nod from the silverback, confirming that he was well. " _How is Koba?_ "

Upon seeing his question, Luca seemed to have rather tensed up momentarily before casting his eyes into the room where the affirmed ape was, causing Maurice himself to tilt his head at the gorilla.

" _He… Seems to be doing fine but…_ " Luca started.

" _But?_ " Maurice repeated the gesture, now curious.

" _You have to see yourself,_ " Luca gestured back before taking the lead into the small room.

With the both of them quietly entering, Maurice could see that Koba was now fully awake but as to if the injured ape had heard them or not, the bonobo gave no indication as such. Instead, Koba seemed to be looking down at something that was held in his right hand. Curiously Maurice craned his head back around to look up at Luca whom merely huffed quietly before indicating with a head not back at the bonobo.

" _He hasn't spoken to anyone since he had woken up. The humans tried to go near him but he only growled at them. I thought I had to protect them from him,_ " Luca explained.

" _Did he not speak even to you?_ " Maurice inquired to which Luca merely shook his head slowly, side to side.

Looking back at Koba once more, Maurice observed the silent bonobo for a moment before heaving out a long sigh…

" _Let me try to talk to him,_ " Maurice signed back to the silverback before placing the bagful of food onto the small stand next to them.

Easing his way silently into the room, Maurice kept his eyes upon Koba's form as he approached him. Stopping by the injured ape's side, Maurice peered down at what Koba was looking at and was quite surprised that the ape was holding onto a picture frame. Within it held a familiar smiling man along with a familiar looking young chimpanzee. Upon seeing this, Maurice could help himself but smile inwardly at the photo that had captured the warm moment between man and ape.

"Where am I?"

Maurice blinked once before he turned his attention back towards Koba. As the injured bonobo turned his head slowly to look at him, Maurice was quite taken aback by what he saw. Instead of the usual cold singular green eye that Koba usually gave off. Now there were hints of gold that swirled among that circular green that was very reminiscent of Caesar's.

A golden green eye.

That was why Luca hadn't quite explain Koba's condition to him before?

Hearing an annoyed huff from the bonobo, bringing him back to his senses, Maurice met Koba's glare once more. Taking in a deep breath, Maurice had let his beady green eyes wander on over to where Luca stood, now flanked by Malcolm and his family before letting his gaze fall back upon Koba whom was still awaiting his answer.

" _Caesar's old home,_ " Maurice explained simply.

At this Koba huffed out through his nose and simply glared back down at the photo within his hands.

"This... Caesar home?" Koba scoffed, eyes darting around his surroundings before turning his attention back at Luca and then at the humans behind him.

Cheeks expanding during his huffs,, Koba turned his harsh gaze back at Maurice for a moment before he finally let his good eye fall back onto the photo within his hand.

Taking that as a queue to be left alone, Maurice took a step back away from Koba and made his way on over towards the others. Glancing back at the bonobo, Maurice and the others quietly made their way into the back area of the house and discussed some things regarding of what was going on. From there Maurice had learned that the humans were just as surprised as they were about Koba's new eye coloring, stating that they've never seen it before as well. It was then Maurice had remembered something and disappeared from the table for a moment only to reappear with a sack, full of various kinds of meat, nuts, and vegetation for them. Accepting the gift in thanks they all enjoyed the food within their hands for the time being.

It was a little later that Luca had declared that he must make his return back at Caesar's side. Surprisingly though Malcolm stood up and announced that he too was going to join Luca to be by Caesar's side. Both Luca and Maurice eyed one another, unsure as to why Malcolm had wanted to join the apes in their endeavors but the man pleaded to go, stating that the apes would need his knowledge about the soldiers that were coming for them. There had been several arguments back and forth between Malcolm and the two other apes but eventually the man had won out and wouldn't take no as an answer. Sighing in defeat, Maurice merely turned to look up at Luca.

" _Take him to Caesar. He knows more about humans than we do at least. Might help apes and human soldiers stop from unnecessary violence towards one another,_ " Maurice relented.

Heaving out a grunt, Luca nodded and immediately stood up to leave, with Malcolm quickly talking to his family before following after the silverback gorilla.

…

Ray groaned sadly to himself as he sat at the base of a tree at the edge of the cliff, keeping a lookout at the sea. He was not alone of course; there were many apes there with him, all stretched out on the line to keep a close eye upon anything strange that might show up. Fortunately for the past few days, nothing had came in sight, so it was a little dull. But dull was good and that meant more time for thinking, healing, and mourning.

Cradling his hand upon the cold human weapon, Ray himself didn't quite like it very much. It was cold and hard and ushered death if one knew how to use it. It was very foreign to him and he detested it. He had wished that he had held his spear instead, which was warm and alive, an extension of himself… The spear that he and his father had made.

At the thought of his father the young orangutan couldn't help but allow his eyes to become wet. It was due to the fighting with the humans that Ray had experienced true fear. He had stood frozen on the spot during the battle and was immediately shielded by his father. At the time Ray was unaware that his father had been fatally struck with only the older orangutan grimacing and offering a warm smile to his son in the process. Soon enough during the battle, Ray was soon separated during the rush and the last thing he saw of his father was the older orangutan keeping his smile upon his features as he was swept away along with the other apes that rushed to fight for Caesar.

After the chaos had settled down finally, Ray soon came upon the familiar corpse of his father's body. Too shock at even the thought of it, Ray immediately sat down next to the orangutan, put down his weapon and picked up Hector's hand. Ray gently pressed his father's hand to the side of his cheek as if the notion would somehow bring him a sense of hope and comfort. However all he could feel was the coldness that radiated from his father's hand. Closing his eyes tightly it was then and there that Ray knew that his father was not coming back to him, like many of the other apes that were littered among the streets.

Ray was then lost and did not know what to do. He had always sought out his father for guidance but now… The older orangutan was gone and Ray couldn't help but let a tears slowly fall from his wide dark green eyes. He had sat like that for a long while until Ray felt large hand pulling him away from his father's corpse. Turning to see who it was, Ray was surprised to see his teacher and mentor - Maurice, staring down at him with solemn looking eyes. Huffing quietly, Ray immediately buried his head into the bigger orangutan's chest and wept loudly, uncaring that other could hear him. Maurice on the other hand, had simply wrapped his arms around Ray and gently patted his back, allowing the younger orangutan to let loose his tears and sorrow.

With the memory fading away, Ray leaned his back upon the tree he sat on with a sigh and idly swung his leg to and fro as it hung over the cliff side. As good as it was that they were to keep a lookout for any threats to the apes, but it was rather boring to say, especially when there was nothing to see except the vast fog that shrouded everything. Deciding to get a better look, Ray left the cold gun on the ground and climbed up the tree that he was on in hopes to get a better view of his surroundings. Once he had gotten to the top of the tree Ray looked out and couldn't help but groan to himself. Of course this didn't help very much as everything was still covered in a blanket of fog. However for him there was a gentle cool breeze up here and it helped eased his mind, letting it gently whiff away at his thoughts as he closed his eyes.

As he opened his eyes once more, Ray had then noticed something strange in the far off distance, on the water. The object looked strange, something he definitely had not seen before. At first he thought it was a whale of some sort, like the ones he had seen with several other apes when they had all gone to the shore by the forest. But this thing… it looked bigger and was moving unnaturally, something that a whale would definitely not do. A human-made whale.

Ray was just about to climb back down but stopped when he heard the most faintest of noises. It had been days since he had heard the distinct sounds of human voices and now he wished that he never had. Along with human speech, nothing good has ever come from it from his experience. However Caesar seemed to trust these humans and when Ray had overlooked Blue Eyes and Ash as well the two apes had seemed to be coming around to agreeing with their leader as well, especially since the day that those few humans that were lead from the city.

Even so, Ray himself couldn't tell which humans were good nor which ones were bad and that was the most frustrating thing about them.

While still in the middle of his thoughts, Ray immediately froze when he sighted the humans now as the giant metal whale got closer. Each and every one of those humans had guns within their hands and were all wearing strange colors that resembled leaves. He huffed out quietly and let his lime green eyes lower back down to where his own gun laid. There was no way he would make it back down to retrieve his weapon, if he were to he knew that he would be immediately spotted by the humans and he couldn't take that chance.

Quickly, Ray had dropped from the tree towards the cliff-side. During his descent, Ray could hear one of the humans yelling and alerting the others on board the metal whale. The moment he had landed, Ray quickly ducked his head when he heard the ever familiar ear-splitting sound of gunfire.

"Idiot! Don't shoot!" Ray had heard one of them shout.

"Too late, they probably heard that already," Ray heard another.

He wasn't going to take a look behind him to see which of the humans were talking. All he knew was that they were trying to kill him and that was all the verification he needed to know that these were the soldiers that Caesar had been warning them about. Now he need to make it back to Caesar and the other apes as fast as he could before the humans could get there.

...

Hours ticked on by and Maurice found himself sitting in the same room with Koba, whom was as still and quiet as the unmoving air around them. Ellie and Alexander had preoccupied themselves with cleaning the medical equipment that were used on Koba and had left the two apes alone for the time being. Noticing Alexander's sketchpad upon the table, Maurice had just about to reach for it when he heard Koba shifting, causing him to pause momentarily and look up at the bonobo.

"Asleep… How long?" Koba suddenly asked.

Seeing that Koba was now looking at him, Maurice heaved out a tired sigh as he thought about it.

" _Six sun cycles,_ " Maurice gestured back.

Huffing quietly, Koba's gaze lowered for a moment, seeming to think to himself for a moment.

"What I saw… What I heard… Is it true? Did Caesar saved me?" Koba asked, his vision still set upon the floor.

Letting out a low grumble, Maurice nodded in confirmation.

"Why!?" Koba seethed, glaring at Maurice with his singular golden green eye, whom frowned back at him.

" _You should know why old friend. You may not see it but Caesar and other apes do care for you,_ " Maurice explained before Koba had let out a grunt and glared elsewhere.

Hearing a light creaking sound towards his left, Maurice had then noticed both Ellie and Alex as they came into view, seeming having come to check up on them upon hearing Koba's snapping voice.

" _Not just apes but these humans too,_ " Maurice explained as he slowly turned back towards Koba whom had craned his neck around to glare at both Alex and Ellie.

"Humans…" Koba spat."Humans. Do nothing! But hurt apes!" he hissed.

"T-that's not true!" a voice suddenly called out, causing both Koba and Maurice to turn their attention towards Alexander.

"Alex!" Ellie reached out for the boy but Alexander would not be stopped, shrugging his mother's hold on him and taking a step forward into the middle of the room to bravely look at Koba.

"Not all of us humans are bad. There are some that only wanted to be left alone and even then we never even wanted to hurt apes. A-all we wanted to do was do our work and leave," Alex stuttered but stood his ground while facing the intimidating bonobo while Ellie walked up to him.

Koba simply stared at Alexander for a long moment before he dipped his head down, seeming defeated by the boy's words. At this they all thought that Alexander had talked some sense into Koba but a scoff from the injured bonobo, caused all of them to stare at injured ape warily. Rearing his face back up at Alexander, Koba merely sneered at the boy.

"Lies," Koba hissed before he tilted his head to the side and pointed with his good arm at the old wound upon his neck. "This. Human. Work," he started before he rolled his right arm over to show the ugly white scar that ran down the length of it. "Human. Work," he said a little louder, causing both Alexander and Ellie to flinch. "Human! Work!" Koba practically shouted at both Alexander and Ellie while he dragged his right hand down the left side of his face.

The silence was filled with the pants from the injured ape whom was staring down at both Alex and Ellie, the two of them holding onto each other for comfort upon hearing Koba's words. Seeing that they had no response to his accusations, Koba couldn't help himself as he smiled triumphantly over the two, knowing that his words rang true. That all humans were evil.

Maurice during all of this had been quiet as he stared back and forth from Koba and to Alexander and Ellie. What Koba had said was true, that a lot of humans were terrible. However, Alexander on the other hand was right as well and there were some good humans out there. With Alex and his family themselves being as such. While on the subject of Alexander, Maurice observed both the teenage boy and his mother Ellie as they held onto each other, their eyes wet with the hurtful words of accusation from Koba, seeming to understand where his hatred had come from. He knew that they were not the cause of Koba's torment but only because they were human, Koba had wrongfully blamed them… And this will not do at all. Turning his attention back on over to the injured bonobo, an idea struck him. Approaching his injured friend, Maurice looked Koba over once, gaining the attention of the still injured bonobo.

"Human. Work?" Maurice spoke gently, gaining all of their attention this time.

Maurice's beady green eyes looked his friend over before he slowly pointed to the makeshift cast that was on Koba's left arm and leg.

"Human. Work?" Maurice grumbled out gently, noticing the look of shock and surprise upon the injured ape's face. "Human. Work," Maurice softly said next, indicating with a finger at the bandages that ran over Koba's torso and backside, both Alex and Ellie slowly separating from each other and following his hand movements. "Human. Work," Maurice now pointed out the heaps of fresh supply of cleanly washed bandages and heaps of strewn out medicine next to them. "Human. Work," Maurice finished as he touched the bandage that was wrapped around his own head before reaching out and pointing at Koba's head as well.

Silence soon fell upon them once more and Maurice couldn't help but smile when he noticed that Koba had nothing to say.

" _I agree Koba. There are bad humans out there… However, there are good humans too, if you know where to look,_ " Maurice explained, waving his hand back to both Alexander and Ellie.

Following to where Maurice was indicating, Koba's golden green eye locked onto the two humans who stood in the middle of the room. Huffing quietly, he turned his attention to Maurice as the orangutan continued.

" _Without their help, we would have lost you my friend. Together the humans here and Caesar did their best so that you would not die. These humans that you have put so much blame on,_ " Maurice paused to look at both Ellie and Alexander momentarily before turning back to face the injured bonobo. " _Really do care about us apes and are good._ " Maurice continued.

Grinding his teeth together, Koba looked from Maurice's smiling face to the two human's curious ones. Shaking his head and shutting his eyes tightly, Koba couldn't help himself as his mind tried to comprehend what the orangutan had just informed him. Were there good humans in the world? No. There's no such thing as good humans. Maurice was wrong… But how come he couldn't shake this inkling feeling deep within his chest as he thought more about it. How could he explain to himself about the two humans who were standing in front of him right now, looking at him with those concerned eyes, even after he had yelled at them were bad still? Suddenly an image flashed within his mind.

The vision was that of a woman who wore a warm smile upon her lips. Every time she would see Koba, her face would brightened and the air was filled with that of gentle human laughter… A calming noise.

Groaning quietly to himself, Koba reached upon with his his good hand and held the side of his head, as his mind rang loudly.

"Are you hurt?"

The soft voice from the human woman had brought Koba out of his throes. Heaving quietly, Koba turned his attention towards the human woman whom was looking down at him with a concerned look to her eyes.

"I have medicine that can probably help you," the woman continued quietly.

Even after he had berated her, accused her of the things that her kind did, Koba was still ever so surprised that the human woman had still wanted to help him. Why? Why would she do such a thing? It didn't make any sense to him.

Before anything more could be said a loud explosion in the distance caught all of them off guard, causing them to duck their head slightly.

"What was that?!" Alexander asked aloud.

"An explosion and..." Ellie paused for a moment before she suddenly approached the windows and looked out of it. "Gunfire…" she finished.

* * *

 **Apologies, not much for this chapter as it's just basically just exposition... Well, we do get a little bit more about a couple of characters at least. All we need to know now is that things are starting up now and we are introduced to Ray again! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. As always, Happy Readings everyone!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Here's chapter 20 you all! Hope you readers enjoy it!**

* * *

Caesar breathed quietly as he eyed the object that floated on the water's surface in the distance, narrowing his gaze.

" _Caesar? What is wrong?_ " Rocket signed as he moved to stand next to the ape leader.

" _I had thought that maybe the apes would be safe… That maybe the soldiers would not have come…_ " Caesar replied in kind, keeping his eyes upon the object.

Following Caesar's gaze, Rocket too noticed the strange object hiding within the cover of the fog.

" _That is a ship Caesar._ " Rocket gestured, getting the sign a little wrong.

" _Yes, ship,_ " Caesar gestured back, forming the sign correctly to his friend. " _Only six days and that is not nearly enough for us apes to prepare._ "

Luca came hulking up beside the two chimpanzees and eyed the ship as well, righting himself as he stood tall.

" _Is that them?_ " Luca had asked, jutting a finger out towards the ship and gaining a head nods from both Caesar and Rocket.

Luca however did not come alone as he was followed by the human - Malcolm. Malcolm had looked a little weary but his blue eyes shone with a fierce determination that Caesar and his apes were becoming accustomed to.

"Caesar. There's still a chance for this. It doesn't have to come to war," Malcolm spoke quietly.

Cutting his eyes away from the human ship, Caesar had turned to look at Malcolm. Just this morning the man had came in with Luca, despite Caesar telling Malcolm to stay hidden. However just like he, Malcolm was also quite the stubborn one and practically stood his ground, wanting to do nothing else but offer his help and assistance to the apes. Caesar himself definitely did not want Malcolm there, knowing that the human was no warrior and was putting himself in danger for them… But in retrospect, Malcolm did know a lot more things about human nature and their warfare that Caesar himself did not. With this in mind, Caesar allowed Malcolm to stay and with that they spoke about tactics, learned a little bit more about the human weapons and their explosives.

"Will the human soldiers. Go under bridge?" Caesar had asked instead.

Malcolm met Caesar's eyes and cast his eyes downward instead, letting loose a heave.

"I don't know Caesar… It really depends on what ship they came in. They could go to the harbor down there or even land on the beach if they wanted too," Malcolm answered.

"They come. To bridge," Caesar answered simply as he pointed the ship out to Malcolm.

"Right…" Malcolm followed Caesar's finger as he narrowed his eyes and made a judgement on it. "Maybe they're just checking things out?" Malcolm started but then his face lit up and he turned to look at the ape leader. "This could be a good thing! You have command of the entrance to the harbor, yes? Those barrels that you've had the apes thrown out to the sea earlier. They will think that they are bombs that you've all set up. So hopefully, they'll stop to talk, rather than just rushing in," the man said excitedly. "I just wished that I found a least one working radio so we could have talked with them already… But if need be, I can still help with that myself."

While listening to Malcolm talk, Caesar himself suddenly felt a little lightheaded. Noticing that Caesar was swaying lightly on his feet, Rocket stepped a little closer and supported the other ape without making it too obvious to the others. Turning to look at Rocket, Caesar could see that the other chimp was still keeping his eyes upon the waters while supporting him. He was glad that Rocket was here. Even after six days of resting, Caesar had still felt quite weak, even he didn't know where he had summoned the energy to even move on after being near fatally wounded by Pope and fought with Koba atop of the tower… Koba… He had also offered his blood to the mentioned ape as well and that had taken a huge toll on his body. Luckily, Cornelia had made him realize that he still needed to recover himself and that he did, for the most part.

While pondered, Caesar's mind wandered back to the rest of the occupants that were staying at his old human home. How Maurice, Koba and the others were coping? Away from the apes in seclusion. He hoped that they were only safe from prying eyes.

Caesar himself had consider to retreat back into the forest with some of their apes were, to hide out as the soldier came into the city and wait for them to leave. However he knew that deep inside, that if he and his apes did not show strength and take a stand now, stopping the humans from venturing into the city. Then they would never stop the humans anywhere, wherever they go…

Gauging the ship with the others, Caesar knew that if they thought this through carefully then they would most likely win, having the advantage high up above the ship in the distance. But if more ships were to come with more humans then it will only spill trouble for him and what was left of his ape army. Letting his eyes wander for a moment, Caesar could see that his apes were tired, wounded and still healing from the battle a few days prior. They had lost more lives than all of their many winters combined since they had first left the human city. Since his fight for the right of leadership with Koba and had beaten the bonobo for it; he knew that the apes will follow him. However he knew that since he's earned their trust, he could not just lead them to their doom. In the ten years of isolation away from the humans, Caesar himself had felt that burden lessen. But now it weighed down on him once more as he could see the inkling trust the apes held for him as they all looked up to him.

"We do it your way then. How do we talk to human soldiers?" he suddenly asked.

"Caesar," Rocket grunted, objecting the idea of talking to the human soldiers, knowing full well that this could potentially backfire on them.

Caesar however straightened himself and simply glared at Rocket. The two kept their eyes on each other before Rocket huffed quietly and turned his head away. Releasing his breath, Caesar slowly turned to look at Malcolm once more and awaited for his idea.

"A flag. We can hang a white flag of surrender at them. Use a sheet of some sort, hang it from the bridge. That should get their attention. Or, if you want I could go down to the shore and-"

Malcolm was suddenly interrupted by several reports in the distance, echoing off into the air.

"What. noise?" Andy perked up as he bounded on over to where Caesar and the others were standing.

"Guns," Rocket growled out, lip slightly curling up to bare his fangs.

" _Who is watching the beach?_ " Caesar signed to the apes around him, before he pointed to the cliffside area.

Following Caesar's hand, Andy narrowed his eyes momentarily before he perked up and turned to face the ape leader again.

" _I sent Ray there. Hector's son,_ " Andy signed back.

Turning his attention back towards the cliffside Caesar had then wondered to himself. Since he knew of the younger orangutan and have given all of the apes at least one human weapon. He wondered if Ray had opened fire at the humans in revenge for losing his father… Or to maybe signal that he's seen them? But then again maybe the humans had seen the young orangutan and opened fire on him too. So many things could e happening.

"Rocket! Andy! Take four more and go see!" Caesar barked.

With a nodding grunt, Rocket was quick to take action and bounded away with Andy following close behind.

"The ship's moving," Malcolm said suddenly pointing a finger towards the object with Caesar following. "I don't know much about Navy ships. But by the look of it that ship needs a dock," Malcolm then hesitated for a moment, causing Caesar and Luca to slowly look at him. "That ship has some big guns."

Narrowing his eyes at the ship, Caesar could now clearly make out the giant tubes that stuck out of it. If what Malcolm had said was true and if those long cylinders really were guns. Then those were the biggest guns that Caesar himself had ever seen. It only spelt doom for him and his apes if they all don't come up with something to stop this oncoming war. Now thinking about it, maybe Malcolm's idea of this "white flag of surrender" was starting to be a good one.

…

Days had passed since the battle atop of the human tower and now Blue Eyes along with Ash, Fox, Shell and Flint were all stationed along the south end of the bridge that connected the land to their precious home just over yonder.

Sighing to himself Blue Eyes leaned against the railing and eyed the human ship, his mind wondering what was in store for them as he watched on. Behind him he could hear the others scuffling with each other before hearing someone approach him.

" _Strange isn't it? The human boat,_ " Ash gestured as he came and stood next to Blue Eyes.

" _It is a ship and yes, it is strange,_ " Blue Eyes agreed.

" _I don't like this... This ship,_ " Fox growled. " _Why do we not just shoot it,_ " he hissed as he shouldered his firearm, looking very reminisce of Koba when he and Caesar had faced off.

" _Caesar told us not to do anything. We sit. We wait and we see,_ " Flint answered back, gaining a snort from the bigger chimpanzee.

" _Did you all not hear? There was gunfire earlier. We are going to have to fight the humans. You will all see,_ " Shell suddenly jumped in frantically as he paced back and forth in between the others while letting out several small hoots.

" _Quiet Shell. You will alert the humans!_ " Fox barked, turning to stop Shell from fidgeting back and forth.

Turning his attention away from the other apes, Blue Eyes was overlooking the sea where the ship was. Hearing someone approaching from behind, Blue Eyes had turned his head when Ash suddenly came into view and stood next to him.

" _Human huh?_ " the white flecked chimp gestured.

" _Yes… Humans,_ " Blue Eyes responded slowly.

The two apes then said no more as the sea's breeze played with the hair on their bodies, forcing them in one direction and then to the next. Blue Eyes then closed his eyes momentarily before opening them back up again to look up at the clear sunny sky that was filled with flocks of seagulls, as they flew overhead. Feeling someone tap his shoulder, Blue Eyes looked back down and met Ash's gaze.

" _Are you scared?_ " Ash asked suddenly, surprising Blue Eyes.

" _Scared?_ " Blue Eyes asked curiously gaining a few quick nods from Ash.

" _Of what Shell had said… That the humans are coming for us. That we might have to fight them again. Are you scared?_ " Ash asked earnestly.

Breathing through his nose, Blue Eyes turned away from Ash and looked out towards the sea. Of course he was scared, deathly afraid even. He is so terrified of the humans that were coming for them that he wanted nothing else to do but run away and hide within the safety of their forest. But... Because he was Caesar's son, he had to show strength to the other apes. Just like how his father showed strength to the apes and to show anything less would bring nothing but shame to his family's line.

" _No..._ " Blue Eyes gestured slowly back at Ash before turning to look at his friend and was surprised when he met Ash's solemn face that stared back.

Before anything else was said between them a small "plink" sound struck the guardrail right next to Blue Eyes' hand, surprising both him and Ash. Looking down at it, Blue Eyes shot a nasty look back at Fox, Shell and Flint, seeing if one of them had casted a pebble at him as a joke. However when he turned towards them, Blue Eyes noticed that the three apes were a bit further away from both he and Ash, staring out at the opposite side of the bridge.

Blue Eyes then recognized the clattering sounds of gunfire, prompting both he and Ash to duck behind one of the run down vehicles for cover. This didn't make any sense to the young prince. The ship was just appearing out by the sea but the shooting came from the end of the bridge. Were there already more human soldier out there that had somehow snuck up on them?

"I told you all!" Shell shouted over the buzzing of the bullets. "I told you that we will have to fight the humans again!"

"Blue Eyes! Ash!" Fox shouted as he pushed both Shell and Flint down onto the bridge to keep them from getting shot" _Both of you shoot the humans! When they duck we will move up!_ " Fox gestured.

Both Blue Eyes and Ash nodded quickly at Fox and readied themselves to make sure the plan pulls through. When Fox gave the signal, he, Shell and Flint suddenly sprinted forward. Straightening up and propping his gun on the car that he was hiding behind, Blue Eyes fired back at the oncoming humans along with Ash.

That moment did not last long though as the two young apes had to quickly hide behind the vehicle once more as a hail of bullets whizzed by them. Checking up on Ash, Blue Eyes noticed that his friend was doing fine but as he peeked past him, he could see Fox, Shell and Flint all ducking behind for cover again as they were assaulted with bullets as well.

" _What happened?!_ " Fox snapped, gesturing angrily.

" _Too many humans firing at us!_ " Blue Eyes shot back, taking a step forward.

Suddenly something hit Blue Eyes hard, knocking him back down and behind the protection of the vehicle as the rounds tore through the air.

"Blue Eyes!" Ash hooted.

Looking up in surprise, Blue Eyes was met with the dark green eyes of another ape.

"Ray?"

" _Stay down! You almost got shot!_ " Ray gestured back at the prince, ducking his head along with Ash when their barricade was pelted with bullets.

After the first volley had stopped, Ray quickly stood back up and let out a loud screech that reverberated through the air, signaling danger. This time it was Ash who pulled Ray down as another swarm of bullets flew over them.

" _What do we do Blue Eyes?!_ " Ash signed quickly.

" _I… I don't know!_ " Blue Eyes panicked, his heart pounding loudly within his chest and ears, almost as loud as the gunfire that erupted all around them.

For the first time since a few days now, fear had taken a grip within Blue Eyes' very own soul once more. Looking around himself, Blue Eyes could see that everyone was ducking for cover as the bullets popped and twanged as they hit the vehicles that they all hid behind. Noticing the immense fear in Blue Eyes wide sky colored eyes, Ash paused momentarily, huffing to himself and ducked when a bullet whizzed on by near his head. Pushing Blue Eyes onto the ground Ash returned fire, hoping to brave the defense along with Ray who had taken Blue Eyes' weapon. Hopefully the other apes had heard Ray's cry for help as they tried their best to defend themselves while Blue Eyes covered his ears and stared out with wide fearful eyes.

…

" _Humans! The ones we spared back then. Many with guns!_ " an ape signed as he came running back from Rocket and Andy's group.

Upon seeing this Caesar closed his eyes and tightened his jaw. Of course many of the humans that he spared from the city would come back to seek out revenge against them, he should have known that they would not have forgive.

"What?! Why are they attacking?!" Malcolm spoke up suddenly, taking a stand next to Caesar.

"I had hoped. That they would leave apes be," Caesar spoke solemnly.

"They should have," Malcolm said quietly before he himself took in a deep breath and turned to face the ape leader. "Let me go and try to talk with them," Malcolm offered, taking a step forward to where the gunfire noises were.

"No!" Caesar barked aloud as gunfire suddenly erupted at the edge of the bridge. "You leave. Now!"

"I can still-" Malcolm didn't even get to finish as Caesar had quickly signed something to Luca and the silverback gorilla nodded, turned to another gorilla and gestured something. One of teh gorillas had then stepped in and suddenly grabbed him, lifting him up and taking him away. "Wait no! Caesar!"

Caesar ignored Malcolm's protests this time as he picked up his rifle and along with the other apes made haste towards the south end of the bridge. Caesar didn't think that he would be fighting here again, on this bridge many winters ago. It was truly devastating as Caesar remembered that they had lost many during their escape… Back then, it was just unarmed apes, fighting against humans who had weapons, like the one he was holding. But now they too were armed and ready to fight for their lives if necessary.

Finally reaching the south end of the bridge, Caesar's eyes widened as he could see his son Blue Eyes, along with many of the other apes roughly around his age, taking cover behind a barricade of cars from the hail of bullets. Taking a glance passed them, Caesar could see that many of the humans that he had spared within the city were advancing on them with guns. He had thought that he had disabled all of the guns that the humans had. Were there other stores elsewhere that he didn't know about? That didn't matter now. All that matters was that he needed to protect his son and the rest of the apes form the humans that were advancing on them.

Spotting Rocket running up to Ash, Blue Eyes and Ray, Caesar had quickly followed and slid right next to them.

"Blue Eyes?!" Caesar grabbed onto his son but the young ape did not respond to him, only staring outwards with big wide eyes as if he were in a trance.

It pained Caesar deeply to see his son in such a state but he quickly shook that thought away and got Rocket's attention.

" _Rocket. How many?_ " he asked.

" _Thirty! Maybe more._ " Rocket gestured back as he ducked as bullets pelted near his head.

Taking notice of several orangutans nearby, Caesar quickly gestured to them.

" _Swing under the bridge! Get behind the humans!_ " he ordered.

With a loud whoop the orangutans leaped over the railings and took hold of the many girder handles below. Then they all started to swing underneath, making their way towards the humans to flank them.

" _Luca!_ _Ajax! Both of you and other gorillas fortify the barricades!_ " Caesar gestured next to the two gorillas who was standing just a few feet away.

With a nod, Luca turned to the gorillas around him, including Winter and let out a loud roar. Gaining all of their attention, both Luca and Ajax slammed their shoulders into the side of a long bus and with the aid of the others, pushed the giant vehicle in front of them.

" _Keep firing at the humans! Protect the gorillas!_ " Caesar indicated to Andy and Rocket next.

Both of the chimpanzees did not need to be told twice and let out a series of calls as they leaned out of the sides of their protective barrier and let loose a storm of bullets of their own. Caesar too joined into the fray as he opened fire with his gun, providing cover fire for the gorillas until they could provide ample cover for the apes.

…

While he huddled there behind the metal vehicle, Blue Eyes could only make out various odd shapes and figures as they swarmed in front him. Loud gunfire noises echoed all around him and he couldn't help but wrap his arms around himself. Why? Why was this all happening again? Looking up Blue Eyes could see his father directing orders to the other apes, doing his best to protect them. At this Blue Eyes marveled how his father would assume command even at the most dangerous of times. Why? Why couldn't he be like his father… Was he not the son of Caesar? He should be strong and brave, just like Caesar… But for reasons unknown, he wasn't and it hurt deep inside his very being. The son of Caesar, a coward among apes.

Hearing a loud pained yelp above him, Blue Eyes glanced up as a fellow chimpanzee was struck in the shoulder and fell back onto the pavement. At the sight of the red blood, Blue Eyes huffed and shrink in slightly on himself. Within a second, he saw his father ducking down and pulling the wounded ape back closer to them. Huffing quietly, Blue Eyes looked about and could see that many of the other apes, despite the fear in their eyes, were fighting to protect themselves and each other. Rounding his head, Blue Eyes peeked through the crack of their barricade and could see the familiar humans that his father had first let out of the city, the ones who had given them all dark looks while leaving.

Upon seeing them, something about those humans betraying their trust caused Blue Eyes to remember Pope betraying his father's trust. The chimpanzee with fishnet scars had even turned their honorary uncle against his own father and with that in place, brought an unnecessary war between both apes and humans. With that thought in mind, something broke within Blue Eyes and he slowly bared his fangs. His father had given these humans his trust and they had broken it, just like Pope had done in his lust for leadership.

Looking about Blue Eyes noticed the human gun that was dropped by the wounded ape earlier and quickly dove for it. Ducking back quickly, Blue Eyes leaned into his protective barrier and waited as the first volley of bullets disappeared. With a growl, he leaned out and fired his own volley of bullets at the humans, letting his anger consume him and exposing his body slightly out in the open. As he kept on firing, a strong arm suddenly wrapped around his midsection and yanked him backwards. Slamming onto the ground with a thud, Blue Eyes stared up into his father's worried face.

"What are you doing son?!" Caesar breathed incredulously.

Blinking in quick succession and confusion, Blue Eyes looked around as he saw the gorillas finally pushing the bus into place, shielding them all. Sitting back up, Blue Eyes could now see that, in his anger, he had blocked the gorillas path and had exposed himself to danger...

"Father I-"

There was a loud whooping sound as the orangutans finally emerged from the other side and open fire upon the human forces. That was all that was needed for them to do as they wiped out the humans that were trying to get rid of them. Watching his father raise his head, there was a series of loud victorious hoots that echoed all around them. Glancing to and fro as well, Blue Eyes slowly stood up and watched as his fellow apes all raised their guns into the air, shouting out their victory cries. Meeting his father's gaze, Blue Eyes quickly turned away from the older ape, ashamed that he had shown such weakness, especially in front of Caesar.

"Son?" Blue Eyes heard his father gently say to him, causing him to look up at the older chimp.

Surprised, Blue Eyes did not see ridicule nor disdain in his father's eyes. Instead all he saw was warmth and regard. However, knowing that he shouldn't receive such praise, Blue Eyes averted gaze elsewhere, seeming confusing the older ape.

Their victory was short lived however when they all suddenly heard several loud booming noises. Following after that the bridge erupted in fire and smoke as they were struck by something.

Picking himself up off from the ground, Blue Eyes held onto the side of his head as it rung from the sudden explosion. Still feeling the shaking of the bridge underneath his legs, Blue Eyes wobbled to a vehicle and held onto it for support. Casting his eyes about the blue eyed chimp could see the bodies of several of his ape brethren, scattered near the guard rails. Some of them were still moving; others were beyond helping… Blue Eyes searched frantically for his father and to his relief could see the older chimp looking about as well, as if he was searching for something. Before long, Blue Eyes met his father's eyes and relief fell upon the older ape for a moment before he stood up tall and let out a loud bellow, ordering them all to move towards the middle of the bridge.

There was another explosion as the bridge was struck again, this time towards the middle of it. Someone suddenly grabbed onto him, causing him to look and see that it was Ash, who had stuck close. Hearing a grunt, both Blue Eyes and Ash could see Ajax whom was making his way on over towards the railings, carrying a strange looking weapon. The gorilla then hefted the thing onto one shoulder and pulled the trigger. There was a whizzing sound as something launched from the end of it, flying towards the human ship. Blue Eyes and Ash watched in anticipation as the small object slowly got smaller and smaller as it flew towards the ship. Then with a loud explosion the apes all saw the front end of the thing atop of the seawater light up in flames.

The apes all had then let out another victorious cry as they could see the ship turning and making its way towards the south end of the bridge. Both Blue Eyes and Ash panted heavily as they stared glanced at one another while their brother in arms cheered in their victory against the humans. Turning back around though, Blue Eyes could see the wary look on his father's face and he could help but feel an ill feeling from it.

Had they really won?

…

Watching Ellie take a step back from the windows whilst covering her mouth, Maurice watched as Alexander walked up to his mother and placed a reassuring hand upon her shoulder. Facing Koba, Maurice approached the still injured bonobo and eyed him.

" _Please Koba. Do not do anything to hurt these humans or yourself,_ " Maurice signed to his friend.

Koba tilted his head at Maurice, wondering what the orangutan had meant while several loud explosions still sounded off in the distance. Then it dawned on the bonobo as he rotated his head back and forth from the orangutan to the window, knowing what Maurice was intending to do.

Maurice was planning to leave him in the care of these… These humans.

"I am going too!" Koba suddenly said aloud, causing both Ellie and Alexander to jump, turning around to face them.

Maurice however shook his head slowly at Koba and held a finger upwards.

" _I know you want to go but with how you are right now. You cannot. You need to stay and heal,_ " Maurice explained, seeing the start of anger within Koba's face.

"What is going on? What are you saying?" Ellie asked, not understanding why Koba had shouted and what Maurice was signing to the bonobo.

"I. Go. He. Stay. With you," Maurice said simply, turning to address Ellie.

"You're going? But it's dangerous out there." Alexander exclaimed, voice full of concern and worry.

At this Maurice smiled gently at the two humans and he slowly reached out, taking both Ellie's and Alexander's hands into his.

"Watch. Friend. Please," Maurice enunciated, asking the two humans.

Ellie huffed out quietly and she looked down at Maurice's hand and nodded her head at him while Alexander bit the bottom part of his lip.

"Please. Please be safe," Ellie whispered back as she placed her hand over Maurice's.

Maurice nodded and turned to look at Koba whom was glaring back at him. He knew that if Koba could, he would no doubt follow him. However thanks to his injuries, he was more or less stuck here for now. Unfortunately if Koba did follow him, who knew what his presence would cause among the apes? Shaking that thought away, Maurice turned away from all of his friends and quickly bolted out of the room, letting his long arms carry him as fast as they could back to where the apes were.

...

After things had settled down for the most part, Caesar and the other apes had counted their losses, finding out that they had lost six of their brothers while several others were wounded during the gunfight and assault from the ship. Standing there with Rocket, Luca and Andy; Caesar slowly turned to face them.

" _What happened?_ " Caesar had asked, inquiring about the part where the ship had turned tail and sped to the southern end of the bridge, far down the coastline.

" _Ajax fired back when the human ship attacked us with the big guns,_ " Andy gestured in.

" _He used strange weapon that Malcolm told him about. The one that made big fire and noise,_ " Luca informed.

Heaving out a sigh, Caesar closed his eyes momentarily. He knew from this point on that there will be no peace among apes and humans… No matter what he did or tried. Taking in a deep breath, he turned back to look at the other three.

" _Rocket, I want you to call upon our best warriors. Keep the bridge under our control for the time being,_ " Caesar ordered, gaining a nod from the bulkier chimp. " _Andy I want you and another scout to go and find out where the ship goes, and other humans too if there are more of them,_ " Caesar explained.

" _Grey?_ " Andy asked.

Caesar hesitated for a mere second at the mention of Grey's name.

" _Not Grey,_ " Caesar signed close to his chest so that only they could see.

Grey was probably one of their best living scouts among the apes. However, he had noticed a dark ill boding presence from the other chimp as of late and he just couldn't quite put a finger to what it was.

" _Take Spear instead,_ " Caesar suggested.

Signing that he had understood Caesar's orders, Andy quickly bolted out of the area to look for the other ape. Rocket on the other hand stood up and bounded away to gather their warriors to defend the bridge.

Caesar waited almost impatiently for Rocket's return and once the bulkier chimpanzee finally had a group of apes brought onto the bridge, Caesar faced them all.

" _I must go back into the city,_ " he signed to the warriors. " _But I will return soon. Rocket, Luca, come with me. Luca, bring Ajax, Winter and the other gorillas you can find still here. And… also bring Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray,_ " Caesar finished, turning to face Rocket whom stared back curiously.

* * *

 **This chapter is very much like the book with a couple of twists and little add-ons here and there. Let me know if you guys like it.**

 **Apes mentioned in this chapter...**

 **-Spear**


	21. Chapter 21

**Whoo! 2 chapters in one week! Well I guess this is to make up from the other times that I didn't post. However, I hope you all enjoy this chapter too. And if you guys and gals like it, please do leave a note in the comment. Thank you and Happy Readings!**

* * *

Slinking into the shadows of the rooftop, Grey peeked out edge of the building, his dark green eyes picking over at the beach that lay far below them. He had noticed that the bridge was still far out within the water but knew better of it from experience on the bridge. Even at this distance he knew that the ship's guns could still find him and shoot at him if they knew where he was. Peering below, Grey could see that the ant like humans were setting up a camp there, meeting up with the humans that had came in two smaller boats from the giant ship itself. From this distance he could see that along with the new humans, they had brought new guns as well, ones that were bigger than he's ever seen before. Grey then felt someone tapping his shoulder, causing him to turn and look who it was.

" _Are the humans building a new village?_ " Red asked as he sat nearby, keeping well into the shadows.

" _Do not think so… There are no children with them,_ " Grey pointed out simply before his face darkened. " _This is only for war. Seems like Caesar has control of the bridge and therefore the humans ship cannot come onto land… They build more strength below with some of the humans from the city,_ " Grey gestured before pointing to the sandy beach below them.

" _The humans that Caesar had let go?_ " Red inquired.

" _Yes… The humans that Caesar had let go…_ " Grey confirmed with a frown as he observed the humans with renewed disgust.

It was silent between the two of them for a moment before Red reached out and tapped Grey on the shoulder, gaining his attention.

" _Did I not tell you? Caesar was wrong and stupid to let them go. Should have killed them. Now they turn around and try to kill us again,_ " Red gestured.

Grey grunted and turned back around to keep his eyes upon the humans. Off within his peripheral though, Grey turned slowly to look at Red as the rust colored gorilla glared back at him.

" _Caesar did not choose you to go see humans. He does not trust you,"_ Red informed.

Snorting, Grey turned his head away to look elsewhere… However Red was right though. Caesar had not chosen Grey for this mission and had instead chosen Andy and Spear to go investigate instead. Unlike the two inexperienced apes, Grey had quickly picked them out through the foliage nearby the beach's edge and both were blissfully unaware of his presence, much like the humans. While he watched the humans down on the sandy shore, Grey's mind travelled back to that one night a few days ago...

Nearby the ape congregation within the city, Grey had picked out a suitable building for him and the other apes to meet on. As the sun dipped lower and lower in the distance, leaving the sky a dark orange and red hue. While he sat there all alone on the rooftop, Grey couldn't help but think of his beloved daughter and mate - Cedar as he watched the sunset. While in the midst of his thoughts the first sounds of apes alerted Grey that he was soon going to be joined by others.

Some of the very first apes to meet Grey atop of the tower were Pongo and his troops that he had joined earlier. The other chimpanzee huffed and approached, stopping a few feet away from where Grey stood and idly looked about. As they all waited, more and more apes showed up at the rooftop. Soon enough there were quite a lot of them, all huddled upon the rooftop, much to Grey's surprise. The all varied in species and age, all with hardened stares upon their faces. He knew why they were here, they were all tired and weary of how Caesar was leading them.

Hearing a gruff to his left, Grey turned to see Red standing there with Rex, both of the gorillas approaching. Red came up to him and grunted with a nod as he turned around to address the others. The red gorilla then declared that Grey was their new leader and with that they all raised a fist into the air to declare their allegiance. At this Grey couldn't help but huff incredulously at the notion but kept his face passive nonetheless as they all recognize him as their new leader.

After the announcement Grey then watched carefully as Red formulated their break away from Caesar. The idea was to take the females away from Caesar and his followers and lead them away, to a safe place where there were no humans who will follow them. With that they could start a new life, have a new plan where they could be free from all of this fighting. Many apes had agree with the idea and looked up towards Grey to see what his decision about it was. To the brown chimpanzee the idea was very possible and makes a lot of sense. However, there were some problems with it and they were…

As the memory faded from his mind, Grey felt a tap on his shoulder, causing him to turn and look at Red.

" _Do you think we can fight them?_ " Red asked.

" _No,_ " Grey answered slowly.

" _Then we do as I have suggested. Take the rest of the apes up north where it is safe. Leave Caesar and his followers to fend for themselves,_ " Red grunted.

There was a long pause.

" _You still don't think that females will follow us if we tell them?_ " Red more or less stated.

" _I told you and the others already. Like Ceaser is the leader for us males, Cornelia is the leader for the females. She would never allow them to betray her or Caesar. Even if they wanted to. And I know that they don't want to. Caesar is Alpha, leader of this tribe and proves himself over and over again,_ " Grey gestured back.

" _Then we force the females to go!_ " Red huffed in annoyance.

" _Did you not listen to me? Females will not go. They will most likely be protected,_ " Grey snapped back.

" _Would you rather your wife and daughter die under Caesar's rule then?_ " Red shot back.

At this, Grey slowly rose from the shadows and stood tall, his nose flaring and cheeks puffing. Even if he was physically shorter than Red, he was not going to let this other ape insult nor talk ill of his family. At this Red blinked a couple of times before he slightly lowered his head and offered his hand in supplication.

"Forgive… I. Out of line," Red grunted out, lowering his lime green gaze.

Still breathing heavily, Grey glared down upon Red's head before he closed his dark green eyes momentarily and swiped his palm over the rust colored gorilla's hand.

" _Even if we try to force the females. If Caesar was smart, he will have no doubt be protecting them now because of the recent attack from the human soldiers,_ " Grey explained as Red looked back at him.

Turning back to look down at the humans the two apes were suddenly joined by a third - Rex.

" _Were you not suppose to be on the bridge with the others? Why are you over here?_ " Rex asked Grey.

" _I wanted to see what we apes are facing against,_ " Grey informed.

" _But it is because you don't trust Caesar, either,_ " Red signed in.

At this, Grey slowly eyed Red for a long while before he finally grunted and turned around.

" _Let us leave, before apes get suspicious of us,_ " Grey informed as he decended down the building.

"Yes, my king," Red grumbled as he narrowed his green eyes and followed suit while Rex silently trailed close behind.

…

Looking up at the tower, Caesar pondered about his fight with Koba, spurred on by Pope, an ape he had thought was loyal. He remembered trying desperately trying to hold onto Koba as Pope clung onto the bonobo, thrashing all the while. While holding onto Koba's hand tightly, Caesar himself was surprised when the bonobo had smiled at him before letting go. Causing both of the apes to fall into the dark abyss below, Pope's final screams forever haunting his mind.

With a shudder, Caesar lowered his head. He had not known both Koba's and Pope's life before they had been both released from the Gen-Sys laboratory. Their scars and damaged minds had said a lot about them. Koba's pure hatred of humans and Pope's seclusion from the others had said a lot more. These two apes had found common ground with one another and hid the details of their years of torture mostly to themselves… It wasn't until Pope's contorted schemes and usurpation had given Caesar the confirmation he needed that not all apes were good…

Caesar however knew that compared to both Pope and Koba, his own early life had been very fortunate. He was lucky enough to be raised by good humans who loved him and almost treated him as one of their own. Caesar couldn't help but smile to himself as he thought about his human father and grandfather - Will, Charles. Then later there was Caroline as well, who was very much like a mother to him. Oh how much he had miss his human family. Wondering what life would be like now if humans and apes did indeed throw away their hatred of one another and coexist with each other. But that was not how it was meant to be.

His exposure to the cruelty of humans, only came later when he was taken away from his loving family to live with the other apes. That was where Caesar had met Rocket, who had been the Alpha at that place. Caesar couldn't help but huffed out in amusement at the thought. Rocket had put him through a lot during his stay but from the bulky chimp he had learned a lot as well. Soon after Caesar himself took Rocket's place as the dominant male and with the nearly hairless chimpanzee becoming and still remaining a good and most trusted friend.

Pope and Koba too had been trustworthy friends, if not friend then ally. Once they were all free from the humans and had settled in the woods, among just apes, any worries that Caesar might have had about both the damaged apes had faded away. In those days Koba had been nothing but exceptionally loyal and trustworthy towards Caesar while Pope had kept his distance but respectfully adhered to his orders. After ten winters though, with Malcolm and his people happened upon the ape colony, things had changed drastically. In what Caesar had seen, Koba could not coexist with the humans, and in Koba's mind that meant that no other apes could as well. For Pope however, Caesar himself believes that the fishnet scarred ape could not accept his leadership if they were to have peace with the humans. For within Pope's mind, a leader who did not destroy his enemies was considered weak… Caesar himself was unable or perhaps unwilling to think the consequences of what the two damaged apes might do, right up until Pope had shot him and Koba had taken control of his apes in revenge.

As much as Pope and Koba's betrayal had disappointed and infuriated him… He had come to understand that it was his own stubbornness to not see the signs from the two other apes that had caused this. Both Pope and Koba hated humans and weak leaders because they understood them, had the worst of what they were deep inside of them, festering and waiting to take over their very own being. Caesar thought to himself that maybe if he could have seen the signs then maybe… Maybe he could have saved them sooner. And prevented all of this from ever happening... Now though, he had lost Pope… But he still had Koba and he was going to make right with the scarred bonobo, or try to at least.

Koba was right about one thing though. Aside from Malcolm, his family and a few selected other humans. The majority of the human race, or what's left of it would never have been able to stand the thought of apes living so near them, as intelligent as them, equals. Even if Pope and Koba had not taken over, the humans would have most likely attacked the apes anyways. As they would only see them as a threat to their survival seeing nothing but the worst in them and the apes under his very own rule would most likely have had the same thoughts as well…

And now War was definitely upon them and Caesar had to consider the possibility that they… Might lose.

Back then, Caesar knew that he and his troop of apes had been very fortunate. Lucky to have escaped the city with a few losses. Lucky to survive the humans who came after them in the forest, where they were attacked with guns and flying machines that set the forest alit with flames. It was due to their cunning and adaptability that they had outwitted their human hunters for a time and survived those very first few days of freedom, even if barely. Only with the aid of some humans whom had sympathized with the apes did they finally lure the rest of the human hunters away.

Soon enough the humans had stopped coming into the forest and from the treetops Caesar could see the fires that erupted within the city. He didn't know what was going nor did he cared. All that mattered to him was that the battle between both humans and apes were over and that his troops were safe as the humans had seemed to have forgotten about them. Eventually there were a few scouting parties that were sent out to see what had happened, with them only returning to bring news that the humans were dying off due to a sickness and that those who had survived started to kill off one another.

Upon hearing this, Caesar had sat alone that night and thought about his human father - Will, wondering if he too had succumbed to this strange illness. That night Caesar had grieved to himself, knowing that if what the scouts had said was true, then his father would most likely have perished to this strange disease and if not that then most likely by the hands of the surviving humans.

As much as he grieved for the loss of human lives, Caesar himself understood that if there was no sickness then the humans would have kept coming after them, hunting them all down one by one and would never stop coming. He knew that he and his apes would have most likely been killed and or been taken into their laboratories to be experimented on. If that were to happen then there were no such tools he possessed that could have stopped all of that from happening to him and his apes. So yes… They had been very lucky. So now he and his apes faced death once more and now there must be something to be done about it. But what?

Making his way on over towards one of the buildings by the giant tower, Caesar entered it to see Malcolm again, where the gorillas had taken him. Malcolm had looked up from his seat when Caesar had entered and warily glanced behind him to see that both Luca and Rocket flanking him, just the four of them.

"Am I your prisoner now?" Malcolm asked curiously

"Yes. For now... But I will send you back to your family. Soon," Caesar answered.

Upon hearing this, Malcolm lowered his eyes slightly.

"Caesar… I know your apes have a hard time trusting me but I can help you," Malcolm offered. "Please, we humans have been fighting wars for thousands of years. We know a lot about it… Are extremely good at it… Whoever it is on that boat, out there, right now on the water. He or she knows a whole lot more about it. It's not just the weapons that they have too. It's the knowledge and years of experience.

Caesar had a thoughtful look for a moment as he considered Malcolm's words before looking back down at him.

"Like how you know how to make buildings. They make war," Caesar simply stated.

This startled Malcolm a bit before he slowly nodded his head.

"Yes… That is exactly how you put it," the man said in almost a defeated tone.

"So you only know how to make buildings and not war?" Caesar questioned curiously.

"Y-yes, I'm not a soldier or general or anything but-"

"Then you must leave us apes. Go. Go be with your wife and son. Away from the fighting," Caesar offered simply.

"But Caesar-"

"It is too dangerous here for you!" Caesar barked, silencing the man. "For you wife and son. Go be with them, help Koba with his injuries… Do this for me?" Caesar asked Malcolm. "Once Koba is healed. And no longer need your care. Then you can leave and go make a new start. Where humans have good hearts. Maybe then. One day. We can meet each other again."

Caesar watched Malcolm as he held his gaze for a long moment but then could see the change in the man, going quiet. Malcolm may not be an ape but the way that humans spoke with their body movements were very much in common with their own as the man slumped slightly in defeat.

"You feel responsible. You want to fix what has happened. You cannot. I have told you. Apes Started war. Humans will not forgive… And they will not forgive humans who stands and help apes," Caesar said quietly.

Malcolm couldn't help but lower his eyes.

"Alex… He's just been through so much. I had hoped that-"

"War is not for him or you," Caesar said simply and then paused momentarily before he eyed Rocket who curiously stared back, "or for any of our sons," he finished.

"What are you going to do about your son?" Malcolm curiously asked, noticing Caesar perk up at the mention of his very own son before a sad look overcame his features.

"I will send Blue Eyes towards the south, along with Rocket's son, Ash. They will seek a new home for us apes. While the rest, stay here. Keep the human soldiers distracted."

"I do not know what lies in the south Caesar. Are you sure about this?" Malcolm asked.

"I am sure," Caesar responded confidently.

…

Timidly walking around, keeping his arms close towards him, Winter looked about himself as he took note of many more of the injured that were brought in from the bridge. Luckily most of the gorillas were needed here to travel back and forth as they carted in their wounded and help out whenever they can. Off within his peripheral, Winter could see a figure quickly approaching him. Turning slowly to see who it was, Winter was surprised by an panting Glade.

" _Winter! Saw big fire from the other end of the bridge!_ " Glade signed worriedly.

" _Humans attacked us. The ones that we had let go,_ " Winter gestured back sadly. " _Caesar let them go and they try to kill us… Why?_ "

At this Glades eyes grew wide but then he shrunk in on himself, casting his gaze elsewhere.

" _Glade does not know what is in the human minds. All Glade know is that those humans, betrayed our trust. Understand?_ " Glade explained.

" _I think so?_ " Winter signed back, not quite fully understanding what Glade had said himself.

Winter jolted when Glade had suddenly reached out and took a hold of his hands and looked down at them. The bonobo shifted his face from one hand to the other before looking back up at Winter.

"Your hands. Bleeding," Glade spoke quietly, looking hurt all the while.

" _From pushing long metal box with wheels. Cut hand,_ " Winter explained, remembering when he had to help Luca, Ajax and the other gorillas push the heavy object in place so that they could take cover behind it.

Glade frowned at this before letting his gaze fall back down towards Winter's hands which was now by the bigger ape's side. He could see Winter trying to wipe away at them but they only stained his snow white fur a pinkish red. At this Glade met Winter's timid eyes again and he couldn't help but smile up at the bigger ape.

"Come. Glade help you," Glade chuckled, reaching out and taking Winter's wrist.

Surprisingly the gorilla did not shirk away at his touch as Glade reached out and took a hold of his wrist, careful to not touch the gashes. Winter breathed through his nose, fearful, but Glade merely smiled up at the albino gorilla, reassuring him that everything was going to be alright.

Then without another word the bonobo lead the gorilla down to where the healing area was.

...

Once Malcolm had left the three of them, Rocket approached Caesar and stood by his side, eyeing the opening from where the man had walked through.

" _Rocket?_ " Caesar asked.

" _Blue Eyes and my son will be hard to convince to leave. They will want to stay and fight with us,_ " Rocket gestured simply.

At the mention of Blue Eyes, Caesar could remember his very own son cowering behind the cars while Ash and Ray did their best to keep the humans at bay. Rocket hadn't seen that of course but he wasn't going to tell the bulkier ape that. What Rocket did see though was the hatred and anger Blue Eyes had shone as the young chimp had finally snapped out of his fear and replaced it with wrath and hatred. Caesar feared that if his son continued to stay and fight with them, then his uncontrolled anger will only bring death to him more quickly. And he doesn't want that for Blue Eyes.

" _I know,_ " Caesar answered slowly, lowering his gaze a moment before meeting Rocket's again. " _That is why you are going with with them. To make sure that they both do not come straight back here._ "

Upon seeing this, Rocket tilted his head slightly while his green eyes narrowed a little.

" _Caesar? What do you mean?_ " Rocket asked slowly his hand movements slow but shaking slightly.

" _You go with them Rocket,_ " Caesar pointed out.

" _Caesar no! I belong here with you!_ " Rocket growled out, his nostrils flaring and cheeks puffing while his shoulders rose and fell with every heavy breath he took.

Caesar however stood his ground but considered his old friend carefully. Rocket had too suffered much at the hands of humans. Not as much as Pope or Koba, but it was enough. Be as it may though, there was no other ape for this job and Caesar trusted Rocket more than anyone else.

" _Rocket you are my friend and my second. If we apes fall here… Fighting these human soldiers, the colony and troops will need your leadership,"_ Caesar gestured to the fuming chimp, noticing Rocket's frown deepening _. "And they will need my son, my heir. Both you and your son's strength in order to move on. We have ignored the humans for much too long. I hoped that they had gone away… But I was wrong. Now the human soldiers found us and are joined by the ones that I had let go from the city,"_ Caesar gestured with resentment. " _I have kept Blue Eyes too close to me. He must learn to lead… Forge his own path… Without me…_ " Caesar gestured, his hands shaking slightly as he looked down for a moment before meeting Rocket's angry gaze once more.

" _Is this what you command from me?_ " Rocket signed back sharply.

" _You are the only one I trust to watch over him. To teach him how to be a leader,_ " Caesar gestured back.

"Why? I could hardly protect my own son. Yet you trust me with Blue Eyes? Why?" Rocket fired back.

" _Because you are my friend Rocket. My brother. And you are much stronger than me. In more ways than one,_ " Caesar signed simply.

Shifting back and forth on his spot, still huffing and puffing, Rocket did not meet Caesar's gaze for a long while. Soon enough though the bulkier chimp's shoulder slumped and he warily glanced back at Caesar, looking almost desperate.

" _Why do you do this to me?_ " Rocket asked.

" _Because I trust you and only you to do this,_ " Caesar answered with a sad smile of his own, reaching out and placing a hand on Rocket's shoulder.

Rocket averted his gaze and closed his eyes tightly before letting out a deep exhale before turning fully towards Caesar once more.

" _I understand Caesar… I will do as you say,_ " Rocket finally gave him, meeting Caesar's eyes.

Upon seeing this come from Rocket, Caesar placed his forehead upon the other chimp's.

"Thank you, Rocket," Caesar breathed before pulling back.

" _What about Tinker? Cornelia? And the rest of the females and injured?_ " Rocket questioned slowly after a brief quiet.

" _We will find a safe haven for them somewhere in the city,_ " Caesar answered before turning towards Luca who had been silent during all this time. " _The Gorilla Guard will take them and guard them,_ " Caesar explained.

Luca on the other hand couldn't help but let his heavy brows arch up at this, hoping that Caesar was not sending him away too.

" _Luca, you however will stay by my side. Pick another ape to lead the guard,_ " Caesar informed.

" _Yes, Caesar. Right away,_ " Luca signed back in relief.

It was then someone else entered into the building, causing all three of the occupants to look at the doorway. Standing there with a bandage still wrapped around his head was Maurice, his beady green eyes beaming at them.

" _You are all okay!_ " The red haired ape signed happily, making his way on over towards them.

"Maurice," Caesar greeted as he was pulled into a hug by the big orangutan.

" _There are so many new injured. What had happened?_ " Maurice questioned immediately, gaining wary looks from the other three.

"Much," Caesar said simply.

…

It had been a while now since Maurice had left them and Koba couldn't help but seethed silently on the sofa he was laying on. If he were not so wounded he would have followed after Maurice to see what had those loud noises were. Were they more humans? Or were they something else? He himself had never heard such sounds like that before and it irked him that he wasn't able to leave to go possibly help the apes out… Now here he was, stuck with these humans whom Maurice claimed had helped him.

While the humans stood watch by the window Koba eyed the multiple medical supplies on the coffee table next to him. With a growl he swung his good arm and knocked them all off, scattering them onto the ground, causing the humans to jump in surprise.

"Hey! What are you doing?" the boy said aloud.

"Alex don't," woman exclaimed next as she took a hold of the boy, preventing him from moving forward.

Breathing heavily, Koba glared at the two before his golden green eye locked onto the coffee table. Taking a hold of it with his good arm, he tossed it aside, causing the rest of the supplies to fall onto the ground. He hated this. Hated being unable to do things himself. Hated being weak. Hated being left behind to be cared for by these… these humans.

Reaching down Koba then picked up the picture frame and was about to throw it across the room but stopped himself when he looked at it. Huffing and puffing, Koba's singular eye caught the image of Caesar and his human parent once more. Lowering his arm, Koba slowly laid the picture upon his lap and stared at it.

"He looks happy. Doesn't he?"

Blinking once, Koba turned from the photo to the human woman who was now standing next to him.

"What?"

"That's Caesar isn't it? In that photo? He looked so happy with his human caretaker- no, father."

"Human… Father?" Koba breathed, looking back down at the photo. "Stupid Caesar," Koba growled. "Nothing but lies."

"No… not stupid and no lies," the human woman spoke quietly, now kneeling next to Koba.

Tentatively the woman met Koba's eye before she reached out and touched the picture too.

"Love," the woman said.

"Love?" Koba repeated unsurely.

As he mulled on over that word Koba's eyes grew wide as a memory started to emerge from the back of his mind…

Koba was little and he was small as he played within his pen. He had a stuffed animal, a striped cat to be exact. He had played with a real one before but this was what they had given him. Along within his pen his mother sat by, watching him with every so often as she munched on leafy greens that were provided for them. Soon enough a figure emerged from one side of the room, alerting Koba and his mother.

"Koba. Come here you silly little thing," the sweet voice of a woman ehoed as she knelt down with open arms.

Happily Koba ran over and leaped into the woman's arms, happy that she was finally here, his mother slowly following close behind.

" _Play?_ " he would sign to her.

"Yes, play," the woman laughed as she hugged Koba close to her bosom. "I love you Koba."

With the memory fading, Koba grey very still, becoming silent all the while.

With a sigh, Ellie removed her hand away from the bonobo and quietly stood back up.

"What did you do to him?" Alexander asked as she came to stand next to her.

"I don't know," Ellie responded as she pulled Alex in close to her and held onto him.

It was at that moment that Malcolm had decided to walk through the front door of the house, surprising both of them.

"Malcolm!"

"Dad!"

The three then immediately threw their arms around each other into a group hug.

"What happened Malcolm?" Ellie asked worriedly.

"The soldiers. They're here," Malcolm quickly answered back with a down trodden cast. "Caesar told me to stay out of it. That this was their fight and that we should leave. Not before we… Take care of… What happened?" Malcolm asked as he looked into the room, noticing it strewn about and Koba sitting still.

"We had a moment ourselves," Ellie answered with a sigh.

...

A few hours later Blue Eyes could hear his mother coming long before he saw her. The queen still wheezed a little from her strange sickness and of course it didn't help that his little brother was weighing her down as he clung onto her back. When she had finally arrived to where Blue Eyes was, up on a rooftop, Cornelius had jumped down from her back and rushed on over towards him on all fours. Blue Eyes let his little brother clambered up onto him but he himself continued to sulk silently.

" _Blue Eyes? Are you ready?_ " his mother asked as she came next to him.

" _He's just trying to get rid of me,_ " Blue Eyes scoffed, eyes narrowing. " _Father thinks that I'll get killed._ "

"As am I Blue Eyes," Cornelia gestured before she walked up to her eldest and touched his face.

At this Cornelia inhaled silently and stared down at her son. She had remembered when Caesar had came up to her and Tinker, telling them both of what he was planning.

" _I do not understand Caesar. Why? Why do you send Blue Eyes away?_ " Cornelia asked desperately.

" _And both Rocket and Ash too?_ " Tinker joined in.

" _Because it is no longer safe here. Apes must find a new home… One safe from humans,_ " Caesar explained before reaching out to take a hold of his youngest son. "Blue Eyes,believes that to keep apes safe is to only fight the humans. He has too much anger within him, like Koba… Like other apes who around us," Caesar explained, turning to look at Cornelia.

Caesar had then turned to look at Tinker as her eyes were glossing over from oncoming tears.

"I am sorry Tinker but I am sending Rocket and Ash too. If I fall… Rocket will need to take my place and lead the apes… And Blue Eyes will need Ash's strength when they leave," Caesar said to the petite female who sniffed quietly, wiping away at her tearful eyes.

Looking away from Tinker, Caesar turned his sights back towards Cornelia. "I have sent Blue Eyes away to prepare him to be Leader some day. A Leader that will keep his apes safe… Not bring them war," he finished.

" _But Blue Eyes and Ash are too young. They are not ready for this,_ " Cornelia desperately countered, hoping to change Caesar's mind.

"Who is ever ready, Cornelia?" Caesar breathed back his voice cracking a little as he held onto Cornelius before giving him back to his mate. "This is best for all apes," Caesar said finally as he looked down at both Cornelia and Tinker.

" _As long. As long they are away from danger then. Then I understand and believe in what you do,_ " Tinker responded.

"Me too," Cornelia whimpered, meeting Caesar's eyes.

"I'm sorry. To both of you. I had to make this choice. There is no other way," Caesar explained before he reached out and pulled both Cornelia and Tinker into a hug.

As the memory faded away from her mind, Cornelia watched as Blue Eyes' frown deepened before he shot her a look.

" _Why couldn't father just send Rocket and Ash instead? Why send me?_ " Blue Eyes argued.

" _Rocket is strong, loyal and full of courage. But he is not very smart. Ash on the other hand is just like his father, a bit smarter but very hard to keep his attention sometimes. They need someone very smart to lead them, like you,_ " Cornelia explained with a warm smile.

" _Really? I had let Pope fool me,_ " Blue Eyes countered, grunting as Cornelius was shifting around him again.

" _Pope fooled all of us… Even Koba,_ " Cornelia explained slowly.

She then reached on over and touched Blue Eyes' cheek, turning his face so that he was looking at her.

" _And that is why you must go. You notice these differences. Where somethings might be ignored by Rocket and Ash, it will not to you. Where they only see two sticks and then two more, you see four altogether. Understand? That is why your father is sending you._ " Cornelia continued.

With a huff, Blue Eyes turned his head away sharply for a moment before he slowly brought it back to face his mother. " _Then why does father not tell me this himself?_ " he asked with a grunt as Cornelius finally settled within his lap.

" _Your father is very busy, if you haven't noticed,_ " Cornelia answered gently with a warm smile.

"Busy," Blue Eyes signed into the air.

At this Blue Eyes watched as his mother smiled before she came closer and brought their foreheads together. It was at this moment that Blue Eyes remembered clinging to her fur when he was like Cornelius, small and full of curiosity. How'd safe he had felt then, protected by both his mother and father. How fleeting those moments were, so long ago, yet he could remember them as if it were just the other day. Safe and small, within the arms of both is mother and father, who loved him. As she pulled away from him Blue Eyes gave his little brother back to his mother.

" _I want to stay and fight,_ " Blue Eyes gestured.

" _I know… But that is not what you are good at Blue Eyes,_ " his mother signed back. " _Even when you were little, you were always trying to find what was in the next tree, never satisfied within one spot longer than need be. Always looking for something new. Something different. Take this gift from him, Blue Eyes. Please. Do this for me._ "

Sighing in defeat, Blue Eyes turned his head away slightly from his mother as he looked out towards the bridge that he was on just a few hours earlier.

"What choice do I have?" he spoke quietly.


	22. Chapter 22

**I checked the chapter and noticed that the words spoken in " _Sign Language_ " were not Italicized when I had uploaded it. Fixed them, so hopefully it reads a bit easier.**

* * *

Early the next morning, Blue Eyes was checking the packs that were outfitted to the seven horses that they were taking; one for each ape and three more to carry small things that they needed. Out of the corner of his eye Blue Eyes could see someone approaching him. He had thought the other ape was one of his companions for the trip but they just stood silently off to the side quietly, as if waiting to be noticed by him.

With a annoyed huff, Blue Eyes turned to face the other ape, ready with a smart comment but froze when he met evergreen eyes.

" _Lake?_ " Blue Eyes gestured, freezing up a little more when the smaller female seemingly stomped her way on over and stood in front of him.

From Blue Eyes' perspective he could tell that Lake looked a little crossed or better yet, irate for some reason.

" _What?_ "

" _What, what, what?_ " Lake snapped, repeating the sign several times derisively, her arms flailing about in anger.

Blue Eyes however just stood there, frozen on the spot staring with wide eyes. Lake had never expressed this kind of fury before and he was very confused by it.

" _You weren't really going to say anything? Something like goodbye?_ " Lake signed furiously when Blue Eyes had failed to answer the livid female.

" _Goodbye?_ " Blue Eyes signed back tentatively.

This however only spurred Lake to look a little angrier at him.

" _You really were just going to leave! Without saying anything! Weren't you!_ " Lake gestured furiously.

" _I… Guess?_ " Blue Eyes responded before reaching up to scratch the back of his head.

At this Lake gasped and took a step back, a look of shock and hurt written all over her face before her mouth was set into a deep frown.

"You are an idiot Blue Eyes! Stupid!" Lake practically yelled at the male, surprising Blue Eyes even further before she turned around and bounded away, leaving his head spinning.

Blue Eyes stood there and only watched as Lake hurried away from him, running past a very confused looking Ash and Maple whom were approaching, their hands held together. The couple paused momentarily, their heads going back and forth from Blue Eyes to Lake's retreating form. What in the world just happened? Blue Eyes thought to himself before hearing a little chuff off to the side and to his horror realized that Rocket was there, laughing at his expense.

" _What?_ " Blue Eyes demanded from the older male as both Ash and Maple finally came up to them.

" _What, what, what?_ " Rocket repeated the gesture playfully, in imitation of what Lake had just done.

" _I don't understand,_ " Blue Eyes signed flustered, huffing and puffing.

" _Then Lake is right. You are an idiot and very stupid,_ " Rocket contemplated with another chuff. " _But do not worry. You don't have to figure anything out. She already has._ "

" _What did you do?_ " Ash questioned his friend earnestly.

" _I did nothing!_ " Blue Eyes signed back angrily, causing Ash to frown in return.

" _Leave him be,_ " Rocket signed as he got onto his horse. " _Did you two say goodbye to your mothers?_ " he asked, with Ash happily nodding while Blue Eyes merely gestured back that he did.

" _I will go and check on Lake,_ " Maple offered but paused and turned back around towards Ash. " _Goodbye Ash. Be careful on your journey. Come back safe,_ " Maple gestured to the dark gray haired male.

" _I will Maple. Goodbye,_ " Ash answered back as he leaned in and nuzzled Maple on the cheek, causing her to to laugh uncontrollably.

Curiously Blue Eyes watched as both Ash and Maple embraced one another before they quickly separated and touched foreheads. Then the two ape slowly looked up and kissed the other upon the lips. Blue Eyes however felt that this was a moment for the two apes and quickly averted his gaze elsewhere aside from Ash and Maple. Was this what Lake and Rocket meant about him being stupid? Slowly turning back around he could see Maple signing something to Ash before she too slowly walked away. With her departure, Ash slowly faced Blue Eyes and Rocket with a dreamy smile upon his face.

" _Idiot,_ " Blue Eyes gestured.

" _You're the idiot one,_ " Ash shot back with pant-laughter, angering Blue Eyes even more.

Suddenly the prince leaped out at Ash and they both rolled around on the ground, trying to overpower the other. Rocket however merely sighed in annoyance as he sat upon his horse, wondering where these two had gathered such the energy to be wrestling at a time like this.

"Enough!" Rocket barked at the two youngsters before he let his eyes roam around the area. " _Where is Ray?_ "

"Right here!" Ray hooted from above as he climbed down the tree and walked up to the other three apes.

Once he got to them the young orangutan turned to look up at Blue Eyes curiously and Blue Eyes couldn't help but slump his shoulder even more, now knowing that Ray too had seen his little bout with Lake.

...

"You sure about this Ellie? I mean… You're just going to be alone here?" Malcolm hesitated as he hefted the pack over his shoulders.

"Y-yeah what if something happens?" Alex asked from the side.

"I know what I'm doing. And if what you say is true then those apes will need your guidance," Ellie said as a matter of factly as she finally closed the opening of the backpack within her hands before handing it off towards Alexander. "Besides, having you two around will only stress him out even more than need be," Ellie indicated with a head nod back into the house, into the room where Koba was still sleeping.

"I… I don't know Ellie… I'm just… Caesar said… What if something happens to you? What if he hurts you?" Malcolm protested, worry laced within his voice.

Ellie however made eye contact with her husband and then to Alexander, smiling all the while.

"Don't worry about me. He won't hurt me... I've done this more often than you two can imagine," Ellie reassured both Malcolm and Alex. "Besides, we really do need to know what is down south of here and what better way than to send you two along as well right? I'll stay here. Help with what I can. I'll be fine. I promise."

"Yeah but…" Alex started but stopped when Ellie turned to look at him.

"I know you are worried about me. But you two have to go. What if they find other humans? And who knows if those humans will be friendly or not to apes? If they aren't friendly, our newfound friends will most likely get killed. And we don't need that. No more. Please Malcolm, Alex, they need our help. That is why you two must go with them. Before it is too late," Ellie explained.

Both Malcolm and Alex looked like they were going to say something but held their tongue, knowing well, that Ellie was right. Slowly Ellie had then pulled them both into a strong hug.

"I love you two. Take care of each other. Please," Ellie whispered.

"We will, I promise. We'll come back. We'll come back to you," Malcolm said slowly, eyes becoming wet.

"I know," Ellie answered as she held onto them a little tighter.

The small family stayed like that for a little while longer before they all finally released each other.

Ellie then watched as both Malcolm and Alexander walked away from her, slowly disappearing into the direction where Rocket and the others were supposed to be going. Silent tears rolled down her face as she watched both her new family soon disappearing over the hill, bringing a hand up to her mouth Ellie finally wept to herself.

Meanwhile in the other room, still laying upon the sofa, Koba merely stared out the window as he listened to the muffled cries of the humans woman outside the door.

…

Judy busied herself as she tended to their newly wounded apes. She was fearful at first when they had all arrived but had let out a relieved breath when their males were not wounded as terribly as she had thought. Judy and a few of the other females had asked Cornelia to take it easy for the time being, knowing that her queen was still recovering from her sickness. Cornelia though, being quite the stubborn ape that she is, refused to sit by while she could help out here and there.

As Judy herself was helping some of the apes, she saw Lake running in from one side of the crowd, all the way to the other side, looking quite crossed. To her surprise, she saw Maple following after her daughter, trying her best to catch up to her. Curiously setting her things down, Judy made her way on over to investigate and found the two young females sitting by themselves.

" _He's stupid. So stupid,_ " Judy could see Lake signing angrily to the poor brown haired female before she buried her face within her hands.

Letting out a small hoot, Judy called out to her daughter and Maple, causing them to turn their heads towards her. To her surprise she sees that Lake's eyes were red and puffy while Maple was trying her best to comfort her.

" _Now, what seems to be the matter?_ " Judy inquired as she slowly walked up to them. " _Lake. Why are you so sad?_ "

" _Mother, why are boys so stupid,_ " Lake signed again, rivers of tears flowing down from her eyes.

At this the older female was confused and turned towards Maple for some kind of clarification. The brown furred female frowned slightly looking at Lake for a little bit before turning back towards Judy.

" _Blue Eyes was leaving and he did not say anything to Lake,_ " Maple explained with a sad cooing noise as she reached out and rubbed her daughter's arm gently.

At this, everything clicked into place and Judy now understood what was causing Lake's distress. She then reached out to her daughter, pulling her in close into a gentle hug.

" _Do not cry Lake. This is not Blue Eyes' fault. He has a lot going for him right now and it must have just slipped his mind,_ " Judy reassured with a warm smile.

" _I know he is busy but. At least he could have said something to me. Did our time spent together not mean anything to him?_ " Lake gestured back.

" _I believe your time spent together means the whole world to him,_ " Judy gestured back with a smile, reaching up to wipe away at Lake's tears. " _I am sure he just has a hard time expressing it,_ " she concluded.

Lake had a unsure look about her but her mother continued.

" _It was very much like that when I had met your father. At first he did not want anything to do with me but eventually he came around. He was not very good with words but he expresses his love in many other ways. It is the same with the king and queen. Tinker and her mate, Rocket,_ " Judy explained. " _He loves you Lake. I can see it in the way he looks at you. The way he helps you while you both tend to the wounded the way he offers you food when he sees you not eating. I am sure he too has a hard time telling you that he likes you. That is why I believe he is leaving without saying anything, because it is easier for him to not say anything at all, understand._ "

At this Lake sniffed quietly and wiped at her eyes before nodding her head at the older female, understanding.

" _He will come around the more he thinks on it. And when he does come back I am positive he'll know exactly what to say to you. Just give Blue Eyes some time,_ " she finished, noticing her daughter looking a little more hopeful. " _Now, let us go and not dwell on this,_ " Judy suggested as she turned around and lead the way.

Wiping away at her eyes, Lake turned to look at Maple whom still sat by her side.

"Thank you," Lake thanked the brown haired female.

Maple however smiled and gave Lake a great big comforting hug. " _We are best friends are we not? Come, let's go with your mother to help the others._ "

With that said between the both of them the two younger females then trailed in after Judy back to the medical area.

…

Once everything was set and done, packed and ready with their guns strapped around them for protection, they all rode out on their horses. No one really talked much during their silent ride on their horses. Blue Eyes couldn't help himself as he kept staring back at the human tower, seeing it becoming smaller and smaller the further they rode away from it. Oh how he longed to be by his mother, father and brother's side already.

"Forwards. Blue Eyes," Rocket voiced aloud, startling the young prince and the other two. " _We must keep moving,_ " Rocket gestured to the three younger apes as he turned to look at them.

Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray all looked at one another before they all nodded in unison. They were really doing this, they were leaving the colony and who knows when they will be back, if ever? So moving forward they did.

Not too soon after, in their riding the four apes could see two human figures standing by the end of the road. They all pointed their guns at the two humans and slowly rode up to them, only to lower their weapons in surprise.

"Oh good, I had thought we were too late and had missed you guys," Malcolm beamed up at the group.

Rocket, Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray looked at each other in surprise at the appearance of Malcolm and Alexander by the roadside.

"What. Doing here?!" Rocket demanded, turning back to face the man.

"We'll… Since Caesar told me that you guys were heading south from here. I'd thought that Alex and I would join you all," Malcolm answered back in a hesitant voice.

"No. Go home," Rocket said sternly before strapping his gun back into place. "Too dangerous. For you," Rocket struggled to say, still not used to speaking aloud.

"It's dangerous for you as well," Malcolm shot back taking a step in front of the horse as Rocket was just about to kick his steed forward. "Look. I know Caesar said for me to stay with my family but uh…"

As Malcolm continued on to talk with his father, Ash's bright green eyes slowly glanced on over to where Alexander stood and the two stared at one another. He then swung his feet over and climbed down from his horse, walking on over towards the human teen.

"Ah-lex!" Ash huffed out, beaming up at the teenager.

"Hey Ash! Blue Eyes! Ray right? How's it going you guys?" Alexander answered with a smile.

The white flecked faced chimp smiled and puffed out his chest at the greeting while Blue Eyes and Ray merely nodded once in return. From among the younger apes, Blue Eyes had then noticed something, that the human family was missing a member. He then made eye contact with Alexander.

"Your mother? Where?" Blue Eyes asked the teenage boy, piquing Ash and Ray's interest as well.

At this, the boy's eyes widen momentarily before he heaved out a sigh and glanced down to the side.

"She didn't come with us. She's taking care of Ko-... Uh… She's taking care of someone important… Supposedly… But we're coming back for her. After my dad and I find a new home that is. Maybe with you guys?" he said hopefully.

At this Blue Eyes furrowed his brows curiously. Who in the world were they taking care of that needed Ellie to stay behind? He was going to inquire more information from Alexander before the voices of his uncle and Malcolm had attracted all of their attention again.

"Come on! This is important for my family too! Look, it's not just for us but for the safety of your group as well. What if there are humans where you guys go to? Alex and I can scout it out and see if they're good people or not and maybe prevent these new humans from attacking you guys," Malcolm explained.

Blue Eyes could see that his uncle was getting rather irritated by the human but aside from that Blue Eyes had kept an ear open during their conversation. From the looks of it, Malcolm seems to know these roads much better than they did and had made some great arguable points as well. Maybe these two could help them after all? Besides they were looking for a new home as well and having a small band could prove useful, especially if they were to come across humans that could maybe be reasoned with.

"Let them come," Blue Eyes said suddenly, causing all heads to turn to him.

"Are you sure Blue Eyes?" Rocket questioned.

"Yes. Uncle Rocket. They want to find a new home too. If father was here. He would… He would allow these new human friends to travel with us. At least until they can find a new place to call their own," Blue Eyes answered back, turning to look at Malcolm.

Rocket huffed through his nose and glanced from the young chimp back to the two humans. He seemed to contemplate for a moment before letting out a small grunt and faced his horse southward.

"You are leader now," Rocket gestured to the young prince before turning to smile back at him.

"Thank you. Blue Eyes," Malcolm thanked the young prince from the deepest part of his heart.

"Together. Friends. Future. Peace," Blue Eyes simply answered.

…

Sitting silently by the still sleeping Winter, Glade tilted his head to the side as he fondly watched the white haired gorilla sleep. Letting his green eyes wander on down to the Winter's hands, Glade couldn't help himself as he noticed the younger gorilla's hands wrapped tightly in bandages, his own doing, taught by the humans had tried to help them during their stay. Heaving out a breath, Glade had let his eyes wander back up to the sleeping gorilla's face and couldn't help but smile warmly at how relaxed Winter looked.

While sitting there Glade couldn't help but think back when they were all but very small apes. Glade himself and his fellow kin were a joyous bunch of apes, expressing their love and happiness in a myriad of ways to the other great apes. This though had backfired for them, especially the males, as the other great apes species were not quite as in tune to their way of… Celebrating.

Although even with the other ape species not used to their way of things, Glade did not let that bother him and moved on with a smile upon his face. It wasn't until he met Winter who had been sitting alone after being the first to have been caught during their little game of "Find the Ape," did Glade approach the younger gorilla.

" _What wrong? Why are you alone here? And Sad?_ " the bonobo had asked.

" _I don't like this game. Others find me too fast,_ " the young gorilla had pouted with a sniff as he furiously rubbed the back of his arm.

" _They find you too fast?_ " Glade had asked as he moved on in to sit next to white haired gorilla.

" _It's because I am different. Because I have white hair, not black or brown. Others always find me first. I don't like it,_ " the small gorilla grunt signed.

Glade looked the smaller gorilla over once before he reached out and touched the gorilla's shoulder, inspecting the white hair.

" _I like it. Very different,_ " Glade mused with a giant smile.

The small gorilla gave Glade a odd look.

" _My name Glade,_ " Glade introduced.

" _Winter,_ " the small gorilla answered back.

That was the first and last time the two had spoken to each other and it certainly was not the last. Eventually the two had other duties to attend to. Winter was obviously put within the Gorilla Guard and eventually left the other apes to be tutored by the other gorillas while Glade himself had gone off to spend times with both the bonobos and chimpanzee of their colony, learning the trade of crafting, hunting and fixing. Eventually the two had become so busy that time eventually flew on by, with days becoming week, soon month and eventually years. Glade would often still see glimpses of Winter from afar but that was about it, they hardly ever spoke to each other again, until now that is.

Looking past Winter's sleeping form Glade could see a few of the apes from afar giving him odd looks. Sighing to himself, Glade averted his eyes elsewhere, used to these kinds of stares that were directed at him. However out of curiosity, Glad had let his eyes wander around and felt uneasy when he noticed that many other apes were looking at him oddly as well, some even glaring. These looks that were directed at him was starting to confuse him. Sure he had been given odd looks before but this was something new, like they were keeping an eye on him, like something was wrong with him. The sounds of stirring brought bonobo back in from his thoughts and he eagerly turned back down at Winter whom slowly opened his bright green eyes.

" _Glade?_ " Winter signed in surprise, flinching when he felt pain upon his hands.

Glade smiled warmly and reached out for the albino gorilla's hand but paused momentarily, meeting Winter's eyes for permission. When there was no objection from the white haired gorilla, Glade tentatively continued and took a hold of Winter's palms and turned them over. He looked down at the wrappings and saw that they needed no immediate replacements but would most likely so later.

" _How do you feel?_ " Glade asked as Winter sat up on his nesting cot.

" _Hand hurts. But will be better I guess,_ " the gorilla responded.

Relieved to know that Winter was not in any other sorts of pain, other than the ones on his hand, Glade smiled up at the big gorilla.

" _That is good to know,_ " he gestured as he stood up and stretched his sore limbs.

" _Did you… Stay here. With me?_ " Winter signed slowly, curiously.

Lowering his arms from his stretching, Glade tilted his head as he looked at Winter. Even when sitting, Winter was about nearly a head taller than the bonobo and Glade couldn't help but find it quite amusing.

" _Glade did. Just to make sure Winter is okay,_ " Glade waived it off absentmindedly as if it had meant nothing.

When he didn't see Winter sign back to him from his peripheral, Glade had slowly turned his attention back to the white gorilla, curious as to why the other ape had gone quiet.

"Thank. You," Winter breathed with a smile.

Upon hearing Winter's deep and husky voice, Glade's eyes widened momentarily but then immediately beamed back at the timid looking gorilla.

"Winter. Welcome," he answered back, his voice light and heartfelt.

…

The small group of six rode out silently along the trail down south, none of them really talking much, except the occasional exchange between Malcolm and Rocket on which way they should go. This however was mostly due to practicality as Malcolm and Alexander were not fluent in the ape's sign language and the four apes sometimes struggled to understand Malcolm's endless amount of spoken language. Needless to say, the group really needed to work on their communication with each other and with what little they had in common they tried to work with that.

"I forgot my sketchbook," Blue Eyes perked up when he had overheard Alexander speaking to his father.

"It's okay Alex, it's with mom. She'll take care of it," the man reassured as he reached on over and patted the boy's shoulder.

There it was again, the two humans mentioning their third member who was not with them. What were they hiding from them?

As they all rode silently into the outskirts of the city, everyone had noticed that Rocket was acting rather oddly. The older ape would dart his head to and fro, stopped for long periods on his horse and stare off into the distance. As if he were looking very far away, seeing something that they all couldn't. To Blue Eyes seeing his uncle act like this was rather odd for him, mainly because Rocket was the most down to earth among the older apes and was rarely distracted from his mind. But now, seeing the older ape like this brought a sense of concern within him.

Ash had then silently rode up next to the older chimp and tapped him on the shoulder. " _Father, is something wrong?_ " Ash had asked.

" _No, nothing is wrong. Do not worry son,_ " Rocket answered, reaching out and affectionately rubbing the back of Ash's head.

Seeing Rocket displaying such love to Ash, made Blue Eyes' heart ached as he remembered his own father.

Before he had all left, the older chimp had come up to him but did not say anything. Instead, Blue Eyes felt his father embracing him, pulling him into a strong hug.

"You are going to be a leader now. Be safe son. Listen to Rocket," Caesar had said.

"I will father," Blue Eyes had answered back.

As the memory faded, Blue Eyes turned to look at Ray and could see the hurt within the young ape's eyes. Ray had recently lost his father and Blue Eyes couldn't imagine what was going through the orangutan's mind. Blue Eyes instead reached out and placed a hand upon Ray's shoulder, startling the young ape from his thoughts. When Ray made eye contact with him, Blue Eyes merely offered a small comforting smile to the other ape whom sniffed silently before smiling back as well. Malcolm and Alexander however merely observed silently, allowing Rocket and Ash to have their small moment.

Eventually the small group came upon a slightly more open and wooded area in the hills. They all watched as Rocket brought his horse on over towards the gate like fence and merely stopped there. At first the younger apes looked at each other, confused as to why Rocket had brought them here but the two humans seemed to have noticed something that they were unaware of. Just then, Rocket had got off of his steed and landed on the soft ground with a thud, looking past the chain-linked fence with darkened eyes. Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray all didn't understand why the older ape had lead them here as they could see beyond the fence was just another building, angular with a dome at the top. Peering their eyes at the building though, they could make images of apes like them upon the walls.

"San Bruno Primate Shelter," Malcolm said aloud, causing all of the young apes to turn their heads towards him as he too dismounted from his horse and walked up to the chain fence.

It was then Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray noticed the letters standing on the edge of the roof of the building.

"Is this where you came from?" Malcolm asked, turning slowly away from the domed building to look at Rocket.

The three younger apes followed Malcolm's gaze from the building towards the older chimp. Though, Rocket had kept quiet, seemingly still lost within his own mind.

"Yes," Rocket finally answered after a long while. "Here… Rocket here. Caesar, here. Maurice, here. Your mothers, here," the older ape had then paused for a moment, before heaving out a sad sigh. "Buck."

Ash had quickly dismounted from his horse and walked on over towards his father, placing a gentle hand upon the older apes shoulder for comfort. "Father…" he voiced.

Blue Eyes, Ray and Alexander glanced at one another before they slowly climbed down from their horses as well and moved on over to join Rocket, Ash and Malcolm, the apes strapping their guns to their back.

" _This is. This is the place where father began the fight?_ " Blue Eyes signed towards Rocket.

Rocket merely nodded in response to the young prince, eyes set upon the building. " _I had almost forgotten. But then. I started to remember. Things looks so familiar,_ " he signed back turning to look about while he idly scratched at his shoulder. " _So very long ago._ "

Frowning, Ash reached out and touched his father's shoulder again, knowing well that this place was nothing but bad memories for the older chimp. They've all learned about the great escape from their teacher Maurice and how Caesar had bravely, along with the other apes from the shelter, had freed the rest of them throughout the city. Seeking refuge within the protection of the forest that they live in now.

Taking a step through and past the old fence, Blue Eyes made his way towards the building, his gun held at the ready, unsure of what he was feeling deep inside of him. Was it curiosity? The want to know how everything had started? As he moved on, it was as if Maurice's stories about his father's rebellion had come to life. So many things was led back to here, so many stories of how it had all started. Stopping momentarily, Blue Eyes looked back and could see that Ash and Ray had quietly followed him as well with their weapons held at the ready, with the two humans not too far behind them. But then noticed that Rocket was still standing at the other side of the fence, looking on.

" _Are you coming?_ " Blue Eyes asked curiously, causing everyone who was trailing after him to follow his gaze back on over towards Rocket.

Rocket's dark eyes blinked several times before he huffed out a breath and shook his head. " _No. Never go back there,_ " he gestured uneasily.

Hesitating, Blue Eyes glanced from the building back towards Rocket. On one hand he wanted to go back to where his uncle stood and continued on their journey but on the other hand wanted to see what was inside, no… He needed to see what was inside. Taking in a deep breath Blue Eyes closed his eyes tightly before turning back around to look at Rocket.

" _I go inside. Will come back soon,_ " Blue Eyes gestured to the older ape before eyeing both Ray and Ash.

" _I go too. Must know,_ " Ash signed to both Blue Eyes and his father.

" _I go,_ " Ray simply gestured his dark green eyes warily taking in the building.

The three young apes then turned their attention to where Malcolm and Alexander stood, the two humans vaguely trying to figure out what they were signing to each other.

"Stay or go?" Blue Eyes asked simply.

"We're coming with you," Malcolm answered just as fast once he figured out that they were all debating to venture forth or not.

"Then I stay here with horses," Rocket gestured back to the three young apes and two humans.

With that said and done, Blue Eyes, Ash, Ray, Alex and Malcolm continued forward until they reached the entrance to the place. Standing before the broken doorway they had all glanced at each other warily before entering into the foreboding darkness that awaited them.

Stepping tentatively inside the small group of apes and humans had found themselves within an office setting of some sort. Towards the end there was a long hallway stretch and to the right of that hallway laid an opened doorway, it's interior dark. The group slowly spread out from one another, each going into opposite sides of the office to look about the many things that were strewn about.

"Dad, there's a map here. Think we can use this?" Alexander had spoken out as he pulled a piece of large paper from the desk.

"Yeah, good find Alex," Malcolm had answered walking on over to where his son stood.

Apart from the two humans, the other three apes were still looking around the place. Ash however had kept his light green eyes upon the doorway that stood ajar. Letting his curiosity getting the better of him, the dark grey chimpanzee entered the doorway.

The other's froze when they heard Ray hooting softly and had disappeared into the door that Ash had gone through. Curiously the rest had followed and soon found themselves walking through a dark corridor with small iron bars lining up to their sides.

Blue Eyes was starting to understand the names his mother had called this building. She had named it the _Underplace_ , and sometimes the _Maggot Hole_. While certainly the area was nowhere near underground, it sure did feel that way as they all passed through it, the walls enclosing in on them like tunnels.

Soon enough they all finally reached a large room, one with the large dome they had seen outside at its ceiling. Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray all stood there, breathless at what they saw. It was as if it were in a dream from the stories their parents had been telling them when they were all small. There in the middle stood the artificial tree that the older apes had spoken of, and the walls that were painted to resemble the outside world. To them however everything seemed so much smaller than they had imagined.

"This is…" Ash started, at a lost of words as he walked up to the fake tree and touched it.

"Like teacher Maurice's stories," Ray whispered as he too walked up to the artificial tree and looked at it.

"This is where… It all happened. When father and the others escaped. Escaped from the humans," Blue Eyes voiced as he looked about his surroundings.

"So this is where it all started. For your parents," Malcolm stated as he heard the three younger apes, he too looking around himself along with Alex.

As Blue Eyes thought about it, it then dawned on him and he quickly, strapped his gun and ran back towards the way they had came, Ash and Ray quickly following him along with Malcolm and Alexander.

"Blue Eyes. What's wrong?" Ash spoke softly, looking about to see if they were in any immediate danger.

Blue Eyes however approached one of the iron bars and eyed the metal plating on it.

"I had thought. These were for storing food," Blue Eyes breathed haggardly in a shocked voice.

Curiously both Ash and Ray approached their friend and looked at the metal plate that Blue Eyes was looking at. There they could see a name written on it, a name they all recognized. Cornelia, it had read in faded letters.

"These! Cages!" Ash huffed out in shock, backing away and letting his head whip around to see all the different cells lining up the long hallway.

The three young apes, along with Alexander now turned to look up at Malcolm whom was staring at one of the cages, his face dark and a frown set upon his lips.

"It wasn't right," the man had said aloud. "The way we treated them, in those days. It was all wrong," he breathed turning to look at his son, Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray, noticing the look of hurt on their faces.

"Is this true dad?" Alex probed, not quite understanding it himself.

"Yes Alex. It's very true. We humans… Did terrible things," Malcolm responded with a shuddering sigh before turning to meet Blue Eyes and the others. "Unforgivable things."

Blue Eyes couldn't help but bare his fangs a little as he looked at the man but grunted and turned his head away. He knew that Malcolm and his family did not do this to his parents but it was very hard to control his anger, now knowing that his parents had suffered from the hands of humans. Ash and Ray on the other hand still had looks of hurt written on their faces as they looked around through the cages.

"Why humans. Do this?" Ash asked Malcolm wondering if the man had an answer to his question.

"I-I… I don't know. Humans… That's just how it was," Malcolm huffed out. "I'm sorry."

"This. Where they. Stayed?" Ray voiced as well as he walked on over to look at another nameplate that was now faded. "Dingy. And so little. Hard to believe apes in here. I would have gone crazy," he finished.

"You and me both," Alex agreed as he walked up to one of the holding cells and touched the bars.

Blue Eyes stared into the the tiny box-shaped room that held his mother. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine being in there, with the door shut closed. Even though he knew he wasn't caged in here, he could practically feel the building's walls trying to squeeze him in, cutting of his breath. Now he understood why Maurice refused to talk about this place. Why he never understood what his father and uncle Rocket were trying to say. He was very fortunate to have grown up among the trees that reached upwards towards the sky, horizons that spread forever from all directions, and the endless vast sea.

To be in one of those tiny cages, all cramped in, unable to run, to climb, to taste the sweet falling rain, nor feel the wind and hear the hush and crackling of the dancing leaves. This was all too much for him. This way of living… it was unthinkable… Unacceptable. No ape could live in such a place and not go crazy from it. That most likely explain some of the symptoms from a lot of the older apes.

However looking back at the cages, Blue Eyes knew that his father had endured here with his mother and aunts and uncles living here much longer. He knew that before the great awakening, apes might've been different but now… He just couldn't imagine it. They might have not been as smart now but they were still apes were they not? And apes were meant to be in the forest, not in tiny cages like these, within the darkness and hidden from the sky above. The building was surely worthy of the names Underplace and Maggot Hole.

As they were all looking about the all jumped when they heard the clatter of gunfire that had erupted from outside. Then they all heard it again, except it was a little closer. Blue Eyes had only given Ash and Ray a momentary glance before he grunted and raced off back towards the exit pulling his gun down from his back. Malcolm and Alex though were already ahead of him.

Coming to a skidding stop besides the two humans, Blue Eyes and the others were met with bullets by the entrance of the place. Looking up, Malcolm had too unsheathed his weapon and was firing back at whomever was shooting at them, but at what, Blue Eyes did not know. From the cover of the doorway they all could make out Rocket, whom was crouching behind a car. The older ape then leaned out from the vehicle and returned fire at something as well.

"They're up there!" Malcolm shouted over the gunfire, jerking his chin towards a wooded hill. "I'll go left! You all stay here and cover me! I think I can flank them!'

Blue Eyes and the others wasn't exactly sure what the man had meant as he spoke too quickly for them, but as Malcolm started running for cover, Blue Eyes saw something moving within the trees. For a moment Blue Eyes stood still once more, fear taking its hold on him again just like it did while he was on the bridge. But then he saw Rocket flinch and jerk as he clasped a hand onto his shoulder as he was struck with a bullet. With an angry bark, along with Ash's they both stood up and fired their guns at whoever had dared to shoot at them. Out of the corner of his eye, Blue Eyes was relieved to see that his uncle was not too badly wounded as the older chimp ran up to the cover of another car whilst Malcolm did the same.

They all stopped firing and then waited, all panting heavily and hearts pounding within their chests as they expected more gunfire. Then, for what seemed like a long time, nothing happened. Rocket and Malcolm had advanced once more before the older chimp waved Blue Eyes and Ash to the first car he hid behind. While Ray and Alexander quickly followed to the spot that Malcolm was previously at. Rocket and Malcolm nodded to each other before they both moved into the trees from two different directions. The four youngsters kept their eyes upon the trees eagerly as more time passed between them.

Finally after a long while, Malcolm and Rocket reappeared from the trees.

"Whoever they were, they're gone now," Malcolm spoke up as he kept his head turn slightly back from where they came, just in case. "We'd best get going while we're all in the clear.

Rocket agreed with Malcolm and with that they all mounted back up on their horses and rode away and quick as they could. Blue Eyes and the others couldn't help but cast frequent glances behind them to see if they were being followed. If there were followed though, they all couldn't see them.

Once it seemed like they were finally in the all clear, Malcolm had looked around at everyone to make sure that no one was injured before turning towards Rocket.

"How many, do you think?" he had asked.

"Don't know… Three? Maybe four?" Rocket answered.

"That's what I thought too," Malcolm responded lowly before turning to look at Blue Eyes. "I do not think they were locals of the area. Maybe they're the people that attacked you guys on the bridge."

"Humans?" Blue Eyes questioned.

"That'd be about my guess," Malcolm replied. "A few of us came down here last year and it was pretty much empty as from what I can remember. We haven't seen any signs of human activity all this way. We must have brought these humans with us."

"They follow this far?" Ash questioned.

"Maybe follow further too?" Blue Eyes growled, his teeth baring.

"Yeah…" Malcolm answered quietly.

"Why?" Ray asked simply.

Malcolm didn't answer at first but thought on it.

"You think they're after us dad?" Alexander spoke up this time, joining in on the conversation. "Because… You know. We helped Caesar? Helped the apes?"

"That's a possibility," Malcolm answered. "Why waste men on a few apes whom are running away from the fight? They're already outnumbered as it is."

"Should we split then? Go our separate ways?" Alexander suggested.

"Alex, your mother said-"

"No!" Blue Eyes' voice cut through the air suddenly, gaining all of their attention. "We not split. Apes will keep you two safe. Together, we're strong. Understand?" Blue Eyes said aloud.

At this both of the humans nodded and didn't argue the point any further. Blue Eyes however couldn't shake this uneasy feeling though as he glanced behind them again, trying to see if they were being followed still. When nothing came into view the young prince heaved out a sigh as he pushed his horse onward.


	23. Chapter 23

Cracking open both a milky and green golden eyes, Koba heaved out a tired breath as he was met with nothing but the silence of the Rodman's house; Caesar's supposed human home. While he laid there, Koba couldn't help himself as he tried to think on what and why Caesar was the way he was towards the humans. Was it because he was raised by good humans? But that couldn't be. There were no such things as good humans from what Koba himself understood. They were a species that wanted nothing more than to hurt and destroy apes. Heck, from what he could remember, humans wouldn't take the chance to hurt other humans as well. Such a selfish and monstrous species. How could Caesar ever hope to live alongside them… But then again, Caesar… His Caesar was raised by these humans… Humans who cared for him… Humans who loved him… Love. That was what the humans woman had told him. Love...

Growling, Koba suddenly shook the thought away and huffed. There were no such things as human love. They loved nothing more than to hurt each other for all Koba knew and he wasn't going to let them lie to him. Not here and not now. He was going to get out of this place and make his way back to Caesar and the others. Where he belonged.

Grunting quietly, Koba slowly eased himself onto his right elbow, leaving him panting and breathing deeply at the effort. His body so used to laying down on this thing, Koba hated how easily he tired out by merely just pushing himself off of the sofa. With several more hard breaths, Koba grunted once more and finally pushed himself into a sitting position. While he sat there, Koba closed his eyes momentarily to catch his breath and slowly looked behind him to see if he had alerted that dreadful human woman. Once it was clear that he was not noticed, Koba continued onward.

Easing his right leg over the edge, Koba let it drop onto the carpet that covered the hard wooden ground beneath. He grunted and flinched when his foot made contact with the surface of the carpet as it sent waves of pain up his right leg. Pausing momentarily to recover from the shock, Koba continued and shifted his left leg that was wrapped in the cast onto the ground as well and winced when it too fired up agony up from his leg. Heaving deeply, Koba's right hand was gripping the sofa cushin tightly before he pushed himself up off from the sofa into a standing position.

Righting himself momentarily, Koba held his arms out as his body wobbled before he was able to stand still. Letting out a triumphant wheeze, Koba looked down at himself, regarding his casted left arm and leg but didn't care. Soon he wouldn't even need the dreadful things anymore. Eyeing the doorway towards his right, Koba could see his freedom just out of arms reach and moved towards it.

Bad idea.

The moment Koba had taken a step forward, pain suddenly lanced up from the bottom of one of his leg straight up into his back, causing him to cry out and lose his footing. He suddenly came crashing down onto the carpeted wooden floor with a loud thud and cringed in on himself as his body cried all over in agony. Breathing haggardly, Koba had his eyes shut tight and even though they were closed he could make out sunspots within his vision as he laid there.

"Oh my god!" Koba had thought he had heard a voice but wasn't sure.

Before Koba knew it, he had felt soft hands touching all over him, and he had thought he heard soothing words from someone. He then remembered being helped up and someone asking him to lend them his strength. Next thing he knew he was being helped up and then finally was set back into the soft confines of that small couch. As he laid there, Koba cringed once more and cracked open an eye to see who had helped him. There to his right stood the human woman again, her shoulders rising and falling as she breathed deeply, looking down at him with worried eyes.

"I thought I told you to stay put!" the human woman chastised as she knelt down and reached out to touch at his wounds.

Koba blinked once before the human's words registered into his mind and he growled back at her.

"S-stupid human! Do not tell me what to do!" Koba huffed back as he made sluggish swipe at the human woman, causing her to take a step back away from him.

Upon doing this motion, made Koba see stars once more and he could help himself as he brought his right hand up towards his head and held it, groaning and growling all the while.

"Koba please. You're still not well enough to walk. You need time to heal-"

"Quiet!" Koba snapped, lifting his arm away from his face to glare up at the human woman. "I don't need your help! Stupid human woman is keeping me here! As prisoner!" he yelled at her.

At this the woman merely looked down at him with that glint in her eyes again. That look that others gave him when they had think that he did not notice them. The way they stare at his scars. The way their eyes were filled with sadness and full of pity. For him and he hated it.

While he still made eye contact with the human woman, Koba quickly glanced around him and took notice of the blanket that was on the ground. Picking it up and balling it, Koba immediately chucked the fabric at the woman with a grunt, causing her to flinch slightly at the sudden action.

"Leave me alone! Stupid human!" Koba huffed, glaring at the human woman.

Hearing a sigh, Koba watched as the human woman slowly bent down and picked up the balled up blanket, holding it close to her chest as she stared down at the ground.

"Okay… I'll… I'll get this cleaned," the woman said as she turned to leave but then stopped. "Please… No more getting up."

With that said the woman finally obeyed Koba's wishes and left him alone as she walked out of the room. Hearing the woman's footsteps disappearing in the distance, Koba couldn't help himself as he took one of the cushion pillows and flung it to the other side of the room in anger. Breathing haggardly he then brought his hand up onto his face and covered it, trying to control himself.

"Stupid human," Koba grounded out angrily as his mouth trembled and a tear slid down one side of his face.

...

A couple days have passed since their encounter at the San Bruno Primate Shelter. The group of six had spent most of their time traveling down south, only stopping to rest up and water their horses. Of course for the first few nights on the road both Rocket and Malcolm had kept watch while the youngsters slept soundlessly around their campfire.

Throughout their many traveling days the apes themselves would learn many a new things from the two humans and they, vice versa in the process. Information would be shared among the human and ape species. The humans would be taught hand speak, respectable gestures, how to make spears, twine and other craft of the ape trade. While the apes themselves were taught how to enunciate or speak properly, read maps, read the position of the sun and stars; learning of their names. They would also be taught the arts of the human world to which the younger apes seemed to have really enjoy.

However what seemed to have piqued the young apes the most were the stories that Malcolm had told them around the campfires. Having grown up in the forest and knowing of the stories from their elders only; Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray listened attentively to Malcolm as he informed them of what human life used to be like. A world that Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray would never had dreamed of.

The man would tell them of great machines that humans had built that would take them across vast distances on land and even allow them to travel along the seas and skies. He even told them of giant machines that would carry the humans up into the sky to dance among the stars. The man then informed the three young apes of great cities that were much much bigger than the one they have seen, much to their disbelief.

There was a certain point where Blue Eyes perked up when Malcolm had told them of different lands. Lands that were far away, much further from where they are now. That had deserts and vast forests, as far as the eyes can see.

"Forests? Big trees?" Blue Eyes interrupted, speaking and signing curiously at Malcolm whom had paused to look at him.

"Yes, large trees. Some even taller and bigger than the buildings from the city," Malcolm responded with a warm smile. "Heck, even bigger than the forest you guys live in now."

"Where?" Blue Eyes asked, wanting to know where exactly this forest is so that he could find it.

Malcolm paused, seeing the light within Blue Eyes' eyes before heaving out a tired breath.

"Very far away Blue Eyes. Most likely across the ocean… Maybe down south as well? I'm not very sure," Malcolm explained, noticing the young ape casting his eyes down towards the ground.

The man couldn't help but frown slightly when he noticed Blue Eyes' downtrodden mood. Malcolm couldn't help but feel for the young ape, having such a burden on his shoulders to locate a new home for the apes. He hoped that Blue Eyes and the others do succeed in their endeavors.

Malcolm had noticed that Ash and Ray had gone quiet as well, seeming to be affected by the young prince but he was not going to let this end on a sour note. So instead, Malcolm perked up and begun his stories anew, hopefully to change the mood for the young apes and fill their hearts with a little bit of hope. And this seemed to do the trick as he could see the beginning of ever so small smiles appearing on the younger ape's faces.

While listening to Malcolm's stories, Blue Eyes slowly turned his head towards the dark sea and imagined himself among trees that were bigger that city buildings. How would his family look? The other apes look? Swinging from branch to branch in forests that were much bigger than their own?

"No. Lie?" Ash's curious voice drew Blue Eyes back to the conversation before him.

"No lies," Malcolm answered back with a chuckle.

This had only prompted more questions from the younger apes but Malcolm had tried his best to answer them, laughing all the while, with Alexander chuckling from the side as he watched his father struggle slightly with the onslaught of questions from the young apes.

Just out of their small group though, Rocket sat on by and was listening in to what Malcolm was telling his son and the others. About the rise and fall of human civilization. Other lands that were out there. He couldn't help as he took in a deep breath and gazed longingly upon the dark ocean waves, thinking about these stories that Malcolm had told the children.

…

Hiding among the rooftops, Glade and a few other chimps eyed the humans below; watching them carefully as the soldiers were being lead by the people from the city. Glade didn't like this one bit. Caesar had forgiven these humans and in turn they used his moment of mercy to stab him in the back. How could they? Did they not want to live as much as the apes themselves? Why turn around and try to fight? It confused and baffled him but it is what it was now and they are here, trying to get rid of them.

Hearing a chuff towards his left, Glade eyed Khan, an older chimp who has a stern air about him and was leading their little troop. Towards Khan's left further hid Tola, his firstborn son. Tola is a chimp that is a few years older than Glade himself, who wears a animal tooth ear piercing and has icy blue eyes, very reminiscent of their very own prince himself. Although Tola is strong and great, his temperament and impulsive nature usually gets the better of him. And it oftentimes leads him into trouble with others. Glade himself had have some confrontations with the older chimp and sincerely wished he changed his ways, lest they be the downfall of him in the near future. And Glade did not wish that upon Tola, even if they sometimes did not see eye to eye.

To Glade's right sat Bryn, a passive, thoughtful and well-loved chimpanzee who is also another one of Khan's children, the middle brother. Bryn is about two summers older that Glade and if he could recall was going to be a father himself very soon. This thought alone couldn't help but make Glade smile and feel happy for Bryn.

Noticing Glade smile at him from his peripheral view, Bryn turned to look at the bonobo and gave him an odd look.

"Something the matter Glade?" Bryn questioned.

" _Oh nothing. Glade just happy that Bryn will be a father very soon,_ " Glade signed back, causing the other chimp to pant laugh and smile proudly. " _How is Oaka?_ "

" _Oaka is back with the females in the city, with my mother,_ " Bryn informed, causing Glade to tilt his head in confusion.

" _Oaka is with child. Should she not be in the forest of our home?_ " Glade asked.

" _She didn't want to leave. Wanted to stay and help,_ " Bryn gestured back with a sigh.

" _So very much like our queen,_ " Glade smiled. " _Oaka will be a great mother to your child,_ " Glade signed to Bryn, placing a hand upon his shoulder.

"And I get to be uncle!" another ape behind them exclaimed excitedly.

"Silence you fools!" Khan barked in a hushed voice before resorting to sign. " _Stop chattering with each other and keep your eyes on the humans._ "

Giving an apologetic look towards Khan, Glade faced both Bryn and the other ape who had spoken out earlier.

The other chimp who had spoke is named Juno, Khan's final and youngest son. Juno is about Glade's age and he is a special chimp too. Unlike other apes, Juno was born with a deformity, a withered left arm to which he cradles it close towards his body protectively. However that did not stop Juno for being light hearted and becoming good friends with Glade himself. The reason being that these two had become friends was that, like Glade, he had found common ground with Juno as both apes were considered an oddity among the colony. Both being considered different and strange among other ape species. However Glade did not care for any of that stuff and welcomed Juno into his life as a great friend, a friend whom he could rely on, like Bryn and sometimes Tola.

" _We should not talk so much. Or your father will yell at us again,_ " Glade jokingly gestured to both Bryn and Juno to which the two brothers merely pant laughed silently in return.

As Glade and the others continued watching the humans converging below them, Tola got himself ready and pulled out one of the bigger human weapons. Seeing Tola shoulder the thing, Glade could vaguely recall what it was called. The human that had came to be with their king had called it something… Rocket launcher? If he could remember. He wasn't very well verse in these human names and their weapons. But he knew one thing. They were devastatingly dangerous and the apes will need that in what they were doing now.

The plan was simple enough. They were to gather some human supplies and lay them within a small heap by the streets. But underneath it all was filled with canisters of gasoline and other types of dangerous explosives. When the unwary humans got close enough they were to detonate the pile of things and hopefully take out as many of the soldiers and human traitors they could.

As Tola aimed the weapon and waited for the humans to converge on their little makeshift trap, Khan raised a hand for his eldest to take hold. When the humans became excited, dropping their guard and making they way towards the trap, Khan finally gave the okay and Tola fired the weapon.

The moment the rocket launcher was shot, Glade had heard one of the human soldier's calling for them all to fall back but it was much too late as the weapon hit its mark, causing the area to explode in waves of fire. The screams of death and dying things terrified Glade but he knew that it was necessary in order for them to live and if these violent humans had to pay the price… Then so be it. Standing up with the other three, Glade jumped over the rooftops and aided Khan and his two sons in shooting down at the humans soldiers.

The second plan for them was simple as well. They were to all stay spread out, stay under cover and fire down at the humans to make their own numbers seem larger than need be. To Glade's surprise though this tactic seemed to have been working as the soldiers all fired at the various buildings that they were at. Glade looked up as Khan fired down at the human soldiers and downed one of them with his weapon's bullets before the older ape leaped off into another building. Following in suit, Glade and the others mimicked the process as well, shooting, hiding and then leaping off to another building to repeat the process, over and over again.

While they had picked off many of the human soldiers, Glade looked back and saw their own reinforcements making their move as the humans were lead towards where they were. Suddenly all of the apes that were waiting upon the rooftops where the humans were corralled into, leaned over the rooftop sides and fired all of their weapons. Glade watched with horror along with Khan, Bryn and Tola as their enemies all fell, one after another.

Heaving silently, Glade turned to look at his companions and saw the faces they all wore. Khan had a stern look about him, seemingly only doing what was necessary to protect their kind. Tola had a strange glint in his piercing blue eyes, looking as if he was enjoying the view while both Bryn and Juno had solemn expressions upon their features. Glade couldn't help but share his feelings with both Bryn and Juno as well as he stared at they all watched the humans fall.

As soon as the firing had all but ceased, the next course of action was to strike the human soldiers at the beach while they were caught off guard. This was to ensure that the humans would be weakened further as well as attack the ship that had the big guns on them. All of the apes quickly rushed towards the beach and they all lead a preemptive charge upon the human soldiers.

To Glade the surprise attack looked like it was going successful as they quickly broke through the barriers that the human soldiers had built and were beginning to attack their compound. While providing covering fire from the rooftops, Glade watched as one of the humans aimed a weapon with a long barrel at the apes upon the beach and opened fire. To his horror, when the weapon sounded off, a few of the apes that were fighting the beach or leading the attack charge were nothing more but bits of pieces, covering the sands in black and red. This was followed by a series of loud rattlings and a wave of his brothers all suddenly fell into the sands, never to get up again.

"No…" Glade whispered with horror.

This was not something the apes could fight and he knew this; Khan and his sons who watched on with horror knew this. Before long they heard the distinct call from Caesar, somewhere off in the distance. The call of retreat. And Glade was thankful of his king for seeing that they could not continue to fight the humans like this. As quickly as they had come to overrun the beach, they all immediately drew back from it and made a hasty retreat towards their secluded hiding spot within the city.

...

Days had gone on by as Koba sat there alone on the sofa, with nothing but the windows to show him the outside world. It wasn't until Koba himself had heard gunfire in the distance, followed up by several loud booms that had even caused the windows to shutter at the noise, did he know that something was very wrong.

"Caesar," he breathed aloud.

He had sat up panting and had wanted to get out to see what was going on but the stupid human woman had came rushing in and prevented him from doing so.

"Must see what danger is out there!" Koba barked.

"No I can't! Please! You must understand!" the human woman had tried to explain.

"Quiet! Weak stupid human!" Koba yelled at the woman before the windows shook again at the loud booming noise in the distance once more.

After a brief pause, Koba swung his legs over and stood up, ignoring the pain with a grunt. Taking a step forward he immediately used the far side of one of the wall to brace himself as he took a moment to catch his breath. Panting heavily, he was just about to reach for the doorknob when the woman suddenly blocked his hand, standing in front of him with her arms spread out.

"I-I can't let you go," the woman huffed out.

"Move human," Koba warned lowly with a growl.

"N-no Koba."

"Human."

"No Koba! I won't! I won't let you go out there to hurt yoursel-"

The woman didn't even get to finish what she had wanted to say as Koba reached out, took a hold of the human's clothing and yanked her away, tossing her body behind him. Hearing a satisfactory loud yelp and thump as the human landed within the small room that he was just in, Koba reached out and opened the door and made his way outside. Faltering, Koba lost his footing yet again and landed hard near the wooden steps of the Rodman's household. Gasping, he glanced up as he could see smoke in the distance, followed by the cries of his brothers whom were all fighting. Staring on with horror, Koba tried to push himself back up onto his feet but for reasons unknown, his body wouldn't obey him.

"No!" Koba grounded out as he made another attempt to pull himself up, but only succeeded in straining his muscles. "Get up!" he shouted as he willed his body to move as more explosions and the cries of his brothers echoed in the distance, his body wincing with each explosion.

Growling and panting, Koba painfully stood back up and watched as the pillars of smoke rose from the distance. Taking one step forward, Koba lost his footing and was about to meet the ground again, that was until he felt someone grabbing a hold of him, supporting him. Looking to see who it was, Koba blinked in surprise as the human woman desperately held onto him, her face wet with tears, desperately staring into his. Panting, Koba turned his attention away from the woman and looked back up at the smoke, his vision slowly going blurry.

He couldn't help them, even if he wanted to.

With that realization, Koba lost his will and he slowly slumped down with the human woman assisting him, placing him near the wooden steps. Koba didn't even care that the human woman was helping him anymore, all he cared about was the lives of his apes, his family whom were now fighting for their lives and there was nothing he could do about it.

This was all his fault. His fault that the apes and his Caesar were now fighting for their lives against humans who had large weapons. Weapons big enough to cause explosions in the distance.

"Koba?"

Blinking, Koba slowly turned to face the human woman who was looking at him desperately before she offered him a small smile.

"It'll be okay Koba. Don't worry," the human woman reassured.

Koba however didn't answer but instead he blankly stared at her.

"Apes… Will all die… B-because of me..." Koba indicated at himself as the gunfire and explosions continued.

There was a silence between the both of them but then the human woman did something that surprised him. She reached out and placed her hand upon his cheek, lifting his face so that he was looking at her.

"Yes… Apes will die," the woman confirm, causing Koba to take in a sharp breath. "But… This… that over there. Is not your fault," the human said slowly, confusing Koba. "Malcolm told me. That the apes tried to promote peace, on the bridge. But they were attacked by humans from the city and by the humans soldiers. You understand? Even if you started this. This… All of it. It was inevitable. The human soldiers were going to come here anyways. It was only a matter of time," the woman continued to explain.

Koba pulled away slightly, trying to understand the woman's words but she then placed her hands into his own, taking a hold of them, causing him to glance into her olive colored eyes once more. He had wanted to pull away from her, tell her that she was wrong about him, that he cause all of this. But for reasons unknown to him, the human held firm and wouldn't let him pull away from her, her eyes holding a fierce determination behind them.

"But like apes have always done. They will fight. And they will live," the woman said slowly. "Just believe. Believe and hope."

While Koba sat there with the human woman he couldn't help but feel a bit relieved by her words. Words of comfort that were meant for him… Even though he's done so much wrong. She still wanted to help him. Comfort him. Why?

Meeting her olive colored gaze with his golden green one, Koba didn't know what to say to her, but he didn't need to. She was right, for however how long, the apes will persevere in their crises, now matter what they are. Even if he started this fight, it was going to happen eventually, one way or another and her words helped soothed something deep within him.

With another series of explosions from afar both Koba and the woman slowly turned their heads to look at the billowing smoke from afar, hoping that Caesar and the others were doing alright.

…

After their battle and making his way back to where their apes were at, located in a secluded spot in the city, Glade walked along with the rest of the soldier slowly. He lifted his head up and looked around, noticing that Khan and his sons had reunited with the rest of their family, his wife - Pauleen and Bryn's mate - Oaka. Seeing the family of apes all embrace each other lovingly caused Glade's heart to ache slightly.

Glade himself had no family of his own, and was raised among with many of the other orphans within the colony. He never knew what that special feeling of having a family was like, but he did know that he wanted something akin to it at least. Maybe one day? If he could find the perfect ape to call on his own as a mate. It would make him the most happiest ape in the colony.

While he stood there, lost in his thoughts, Glade was not prepared when something came running up to him and smashed into him, causing him to fall onto the hard ground. Grunting, Glade quickly got back up and looked to see his attacker charging at him again. Thinking fast, Glade jumped up and used the other ape as a springboard, hopped over the other, allowing the ape to crash into the metal vehicle behind them. Turning around, Glade stared with wide eyes as the other ape stood back up, huffing and puffing, looking slightly crazed and angry.

"W-what doing?" Glade panicked.

Without answering though the other ape charged in again and slammed right into Glade, knocking him back onto the pavement and started to rain heavy blows upon him. Glade didn't want to fight back and instead he quickly covered his face and side as he was struck over and over again. Before long, Glade finally kicked his opponent off of him and quickly scuttled away, turning to take a look at his attacker. To his surprise Glade could see another ape getting up quickly and baring his fangs at him. He knows this other chimpanzee from within the colony. His name is Thorn whom is a tad older than Glade himself and is an ape that usually kept to himself who usually hung out with others here and there. But it struck Glade odd though, as he knew that Thorn wasn't the type of ape to be going around looking for fights with others. So why now?

"What's going on here!" Glade heard Khan's voice bellowed around them.

Both Glade and Thorn lower their heads in submission when Khan stomped on over and glared at the both of them. Heavily breathing, Glade glanced around himself and noticed that during his little scuffle, there was a small circle that had now formed around him and Thorn. Khan glared at the both of them as he stood in between, to prevent any further fighting.

" _What is the meaning of this Thorn,_ " Khan gestured to the younger chimp.

"His. Fault!" Thorn growled angrily as he pointed at Glade.

"G-Glade's fault?" Glade repeated in an astonished voice, confused.

" _My younger brother died today because of him!_ " Thorn gestured while baring his fangs.

Glade didn't understand and looked around at the other apes, only to find that they were just as confused as he was. Others he noticed seemed to have that dark look in their eyes again, like the previous days before.

" _I don't understand. What do you mean?_ " Khan gestured confusingly, trying to make sense of it all.

"Because he is Bonobo! He is like Koba! Did all this to us! Only want nothing for apes but war!" Thorn spat angrily, huffing and puffing all the while.

Upon hearing this accusation, Glade's eyes widened tremendously.

"N-no! Glade not like Koba!" Glade spoke out, desperately looking around towards at the others, gaining nothing but silence and weary looks from them. "B-Bonobos not like Koba. Glade and Bonobos only want peace. Like Cae-"

"Lies!" Thorn shouted over Glade's attempt to defend himself and his bonobo kin. "You all like Koba! Share Koba blood! Share his kind! Only want war! Only want to fight humans! Killed my little brother! Kill all apes!"

Upon hearing this accusation, Glade backed away from the other angry chimp a little and tried to meet the surrounding apes in the eyes, looking for support of any kind. He however was only met with scornful glares and many others turning their heads away from him, as if they were agreeing with what Thorn was saying about him and his kind.

Huffing to himself, Glade's shoulders dropped a little as no other ape voiced their support for him, defended him. Was this really how the other great apes see him? See his own kind? He knew that their ways were not accepted by quite a few but that doesn't mean that they were all warmongering, like Koba. Weren't they? Sniffing quietly, Glade lowered his gaze and drew his arms close in on him, lowering himself slightly from the accusations.

"Enough!" Khan growled as he took a step towards Thorn, causing the younger male to back off slightly and lower himself even more in submission at the older ape.

There was a loud series of noises which prompted everyone to look up. As the circle slowly parted, Maurice followed by both Percy and Clarence all slowly ambled in, the three orangutans turning their heads to and fro to see what was causing such a problem among them all.

" _What is going on here?_ " Maurice signed slowly, turning to look at Khan and then at Glade who seemed a little troubled.

" _There seemed to be a fight here,_ " Khan gestured back simply before turning to look down at Thorn scornfully. " _Thorn here accused Glade and his kind that they are like Koba._ "

Upon seeing this all three of the elder orangutans turned to look at Thorn whom kept his glare down low. Maurice frowned and looked at both Clarence and Percy before he ambled on over towards Glade and gently placed a hand upon his shoulder. This caused the younger bonobo to look up at him and Maurice offered Glade a warm gentle smile in return before he turned to look at Thorn.

" _Is this true?_ " Maurice simply asked.

"Yes teacher," Thorn spoke up, keeping his eyes on Khan warily before lowering his head again. " _Glade and bonobos are nothing but trouble. They are apes that only want war. Like Koba. In doing so they killed my little brother - Fern,_ " Thorn signed angrily, sniffing all the while. "Glade and the other bonobos cannot be trusted."

" _Even if Glade is a bonobo. Like Koba. He and his kind are not the cause of this,_ " Clarence grumbled in his throat sack as he gestured towards everyone within the vicinity slowly.

" _Thorn, you are not the only one to have lost family. Many apes have lost family. Look around,_ " Percy signed slowly, making the young chimp look around him at the other down trodden faces of his brothers and peers.

" _Even if it was Koba who started war with humans. It was not his doing. Remember, Caesar has informed us that Pope was the one who manipulated Koba into doing this. Does this mean that chimpanzees want war with humans too?_ " Maurice questioned the young Thorn whose eyes grew wide momentarily before shamefully turning his head away.

" _We must not fight each other. Now, more than ever, we need each other's strength in order to fend off the humans soldiers,_ " Percy signed, gaining a series of murmurs and grunts from the surrounding apes before he, Maurice and Clarence placed their closed fists together.

"The elders are right! We must not fight one another! The humans are out there! And if we fight each other now! Then we lose ourselves! Remember! Apes! Together! Strong!" Khan announced as he followed Maurice, Clarence and Percy's gesture by closing in his fists and putting them together. "And family is all!"

There was another wave of murmur before all of the ape warriors followed in the gesture, putting their closed fists together. After that, all of the apes soon separated, going off into various directions.

Thorn on the other hand was biting his bottom lip as he shot a glance at Glade whom was looking back at him with a pained look within his eyes, before looking away. Huffing quietly, Thorn apologetically glanced up at the three elder orangutans before he stopped in front of Glade, made eye contact with the bonobo once and then bounded off. Leaving Glade there with the elder apes.

Khan huffed as he watched Thorn take his leave and slowly walked on over towards both Maurice and Glade, standing next to the younger ape and placing a hand upon the bonobo's shoulder. Both Glade and Khan looked at one another in silence before the older of the two turned to look at Maurice.

" _Where is Caesar, Maurice?_ " Khan asked.

" _With the other warriors, formulating our next plan of action against the humans soldiers,_ " Maurice responded slowly.

" _I should go then,_ " Khan signed back before taking one last glance at Glade before he too slowly bounded away to find Caesar.

Watching Khan go, both Percy and Clarence eyed one another before they both faced Maurice and informed him that they will go on to check the other apes. With Maurice nodding back, both of the orangutans slowly ambled away, leaving just him and Glade standing there.

"Is Glade… And other bonobos… Like Koba?" Glade asked, as he warily glanced up at Maurice whom was still standing in front of him.

Maurice looked down at the younger ape and slowly a gentle smile spread upon his lips.

" _Glade is Glade. Bonobos are bonobos and Koba is Koba. All apes are different Glade. None alike and none the same. But all are important nonetheless,_ " Maurice reassured.

" _But Thorn said-_ "

" _Do not listen to Thorn. He was just very mad because he just lost his little brother. He did not think before he speak. He was caught in his anger and was finding something to blame. Do not believe what he said about you and the Bonobos. Understand?_ " Maurice gestured.

Seeing what Maurice had informed him, brought a sense of relief within Glade as he huffed out wearily and stood up a little taller. He then noticed that the red haired orangutan had slowly looked past him, causing him to curiously glance behind as well. To his surprise he saw Winter looking curiously about as if he were searching for something. What was he looking for? Glade wonder to himself, that was until both he and Winter made eye contact. The white haired gorilla then hesitantly waved at him, to which Glade couldn't help himself by letting out a small fit of pant-laughter and waved back at the timid looking Winter. He then turned back around to face Maurice, seeing a warm smile upon the orangutan's lips.

" _Not every apes think like that Glade. Be strong. For both yourself and others. Now go,_ " Maurice signed down at the bonobo in front of him.

"Thank you Maurice," Glade thanked the older ape.

Maurice merely grumbled through his throat sac in response, a smile still upon his features as he watched Glade turn around and bound off to where Winter was. He watched with his beady green eyes as the two younger apes met and began to conversed with each other from afar. Glade signing enthusiastically, grinning all the while. Whereas Winter gestured back timidly with a hesitant smile upon his face. Satisfied that Glade was going to be alright for the time being, thanks to Winter's appearance, Maurice had then decided to venture towards their apes too and hopefully see how everyone else was doing.

…

Days had passed since the explosion had occured from afar and Koba was still bedridden for the most of it. During that time he was more and more exposed to the human woman as she changed his bandages and gave him food. Even though he was a bit more tolerant of her, Koba was still weary every time she touched at his bandaged wounds and would only eat when she was out of the room.

While he sat there with the human woman, Koba had glanced down at the coffee table and noticed the strange little book that belonged to the human boy. Curiously, Koba reached out and took it. Lifting it from the table and set it upon his lap. He didn't know what had drawn him towards this thing but it beats sitting there and simply staring out at the windows. With a grunt he opened the contents of the sketchbook. While he flipped through the pages, nothing of interest popped out to him. From what he saw there were just a lot of nonsensical drawings, depicting humans in a sorrowful state and humans fighting one another, highlighted by the red ink that were splattered throughout the pages.

Grunting through his nostrils, Koba himself wasn't surprised that humans would turn on each other. They were nothing more than animals to him and seeing this come into fruition by these drawings only reinforced his thoughts about them. However as he continued on there were other drawings as well. Drawing depicting smiling humans whom were laughing among each other. This made Koba frown as he continued to turn the page.

While flipping through the sketchbook, Koba abruptly stopped when he turned one of the pages and saw a sketch of an ape staring back at him. Mouth hung agape slightly, Koba was quite surprised to see the image of what looked like Caesar staring back at him. Huffing out in amusement, he fondly traced a finger down the side of the drawing's face, a small smile appearing upon his lips.

"Caesar…" Koba breathed quietly to himself, not noticing the that human woman was watching him all the while.

Looking away from the drawing and turning his golden green eye back towards the windows, Koba wondered to himself where his leader was at now, or even if he was still alive. For the past few days there had been an abrupt sounds of gunfire that echoed off in the distance but as fast as it would come, it would disappear again, as if it had never even happened. He desperately wished that he knew what was going on and with Maurice not returning for a long time now he couldn't help but worry.

With a grunting sigh, Koba turned his attention back to the drawing of Caesar before slowly turning the page to see more. When he saw the next drawing, Koba's whole body grew rigid. There staring back at him is the drawing of a angry looking ape with a nasty looking jagged scar running down one side of his face, right down the eye and top portion of the ape's frowning lips. No one needed to tell Koba who this ape was as he stared at the drawing. He knew it was a picture of him and the resemblance was uncanny. With a grunt, he tossed the sketchbook to the ground and glared off to the side. Of course the human boy would see him like that. Something akin to a deranged monster, nothing more and nothing less… Good.

So lost in his angry thoughts, Koba had forgotten that the human woman was still in the same room as him. It wasn't until he heard the sounds of shifting papers, did he finally round his head back to see the human woman standing there with the sketchbook in her hands. The woman then stared down at the page that Koba was looking at before she met his gaze once more.

"See drawing there? That is me. Evil ape," Koba sneered as he pointed at himself, baring his fangs.

The woman looked from the sketch within her hands back to Koba. With a sigh the woman turn the page and her face lit up, confusing the bonobo.

"Your wrong…" The human woman said slowly as she meet Koba's gaze before turning the sketchbook over and presenting it to him.

To Koba's surprise what the human showed him left him in a state of shock and confusion. There within the sketchpad was a drawing of what looked like several apes. Apes that were standing around one of their own whom was laying on a familiar looking sofa.

The woman took a step closer and offered Koba the sketchbook and he slowly took it from her, staring at the drawing.

"Wh-who?" Koba breathed, not believing what he was seeing.

"That's Caesar," the human woman pointed out the drawing of the sitting ape who was peering down at the other, "and that is you," she informed, pointing to the ape whom seemed to be sleeping on the sofa, being overlooked by the others.

He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. He had thought that what he had heard from the other apes and Maurice were lies but this drawing told him all he needed to know. It depicted several apes that resembled Caesar, Rocket, Maurice and Luca all huddling around the sofa, looking down at him.

"Turn the page," the human woman spoke softly yet again, causing Koba to look up at her before doing so.

There he was met with yet another drawing of him, except this time the drawing did not have a scowl look upon it. Instead the ape in the drawing seemed to be lost in thought, staring off into the distance, looking almost serene.

"You're not a evil ape you know," the woman spoke up, causing Koba to look back up at her. "Just an ape. Who was hurt by humans."

"Human woman does not know Koba," Koba spat.

"You are right… I don't know who you are. But if you allow me. I can learn," the woman explained as she looked down at him again with those pitying olive colored eyes of hers. "If you allow me to at least. Maybe I can help you?"

Koba stared at the woman for a long time before he shifted slightly and turned his head away from her. For reasons unknown he felt like he could trust this human woman. Even when he berated her, threw things at her and did terrible things to her, she never once yelled back at him or hurt him. Instead she showed him something that he had thought was long gone from humans. A sense of compassion and the ability to care for him when no other humans would… Very much like his Mary a long time ago.

Mary…

"How about this. Let's start over okay?" The human woman perked up, causing Koba to turned back towards her. "My name is Ellie. What is your name?" Ellie greeted with a warm smile.

"Ko…" Koba tried to say but his heart was pounding within his chest and his body started to shake.

Why was he shaking? What was this feeling that had suddenly overtaken him? It was something that he hadn't felt in a long time. Fear. Not the fear of being hurt, he was used to that. No. but this fear was something else. A fear to allow something come close to him and it terrified him.

While he was struggling, Koba felt a soft hand upon his, causing him to come out of his stupor and see the human woman, Ellie was it? Smiling warmly at him.

"It's okay. You don't have to answer. I know this is hard," Ellie whispered.

Koba swallowed quietly and shook his head.

"Koba… I am... Koba," Koba finally answered to which Ellie beamed back at him and let out a small bit of heavenly laughter.

"Nice to meet you Koba," Ellie responded, a genuine twinkle shining within her eyes.

While Koba watched Ellie greeting him, he could feel a certain something lifting away from his shoulders. Something that was bearing down on him and it was because of her. Koba in turn couldn't help himself as a small smile slowly formed on his lips as well. He however quickly noticed that he was smiling at the human named Ellie and quickly turned his head away from her. He huffed quietly as he heard Ellie laughing a little behind him before she slowly stood back up and announced that she will bring him more food. With that Ellie left and Koba was left alone once more for the time being.

For now though, Koba just sat there and stared at the wall with conflicting emotions raging within him.

What should he do?

...

More days passed as the small group travelled and eventually among the roads started to spring up trees again. Even if they were not the same trees back home, lower, thicker and drier than what he was used to, Ray was just glad to be in the presence of them again. When Blue Eyes had asked him to have a look around, Ray himself was more than happy to climb the biggest tree he could find, making all the way to the top, feeling the welcome stretch in his arms and legs.

Once he was at the top, Ray couldn't see anything of much of interest, but one could hear more above the ground than on it. While peering over the horizon, he perked up at what he heard and saw before he raced back down to report his findings.

" _Out that way,_ " Ray gestured to the other three. " _Humans. They sound funny._ "

" _What do you mean?_ " Blue Eyes asked curiously.

At this Ray had to pause and placed a finger upon his chin as he looked up into the air to think on it, not sure what to tell his prince and new leader.

" _A little like us orangutans, when we do the long call,_ " Ray signed slowly back, causing Blue Eyes, Ash and Rocket to curiously look at each other. " _But they also sound like birds. Maybe more like birds?_ " Ray explained as best he could.

" _Humans that sound like birds?_ " Ash asked, scratching the top of his head as he tried to picture humans making the chirping noises like the winged creatures he often seen within their forest.

Blue Eyes grunted to himself, not satisfied with what Ray had told him but that was the best they were going to get out of the young orangutan. Turning to look at both Malcolm and Alexander, Blue Eyes heaved quietly before walking up to them.

"Ray says. He hears humans. That way," Blue Eyes pointed out, speaking and signing all the while.

"Other humans dad!" Alexander said excitedly.

"Hold on Alex," Malcolm calmed the teenager down before turning back to face the apes. "Did you all want to check them out?"

Blue Eyes pondered on that thought and turned to look at his uncle Rocket, before turning back to face Malcolm. After a few consulting with each other, it was decided that they would see who and what these humans were.

While on the ground Ray did not hear the humans but as they got close the strange sounds began to filter into the forest.

"Oh. I get it. I guess you all haven't heard anything like that before huh?" Alexander spoke up as he turned to look at Ray then Ash and Blue Eyes.

"What noise?" Ray said excitedly.

"They're singing," Malcolm answered. "It's a hymn."

"Singing?" Ash questioned.

"It's where you use your voice to make a type of sound, um…" Alex said before he paused momentarily before he started humming the same tune that the humans were making from afar.

At this both Ash and Ray stared at Alexander in wonder, captivated by the strange noise that he was producing from within his chest.

"Sound like the machine. At the gas station," Blue Eyes concluded after Alexander was done.

Ray remembered that, that old human ruin that had sparked to life after they helped fixed the dam. That was the first time they had all seen artificial light and had heard the strange sound that came from the place. Rhythmic drumming voices, but not voices talking. Now that he got a better understanding of what singing was, he found it weirdly beautiful.

They soon reached a ridge overlooking a small meadow surrounded by redwoods. From their vantage point they could all see a small group of humans that was gathered there, standing around a rectangular hole on the ground.

"What they doing?" Ash asked as he craned his neck to get a better look at what the humans were doing.

Ray watched as both Malcolm and Alexander shared a smile with each other. He knew that smiling conveyed happiness in humans, but these ones did not seem happy to him. More like a smile but was sad, which didn't make sense but that was what it was to him.

"They are burying someone. It's what us humans do when one of us dies. Some of us, anyway," Malcolm explained.

"Why?" Blue Eyes asked curiously, giving Malcolm his full attention.

"Depends on who you ask I suppose. It's complicated but it helps us move on" Malcolm answered.

" _How? How it helps you move on?_ " Blue Eyes signed, his breath becoming shaky.

Malcolm and the others eyed Blue Eyes for a moment, seeing the hesitance within the young prince before the man took in a deep breath and turned to look at the group of humans in the distance. Malcolm kept quiet for a moment and could see Blue Eyes in the corner of his eyes, fidgeting before he finally turned and made eye contact with the sky eyed prince once more.

"I don't know. I guess… I guess it just makes us acknowledge that they are really gone. That you won't see that person or ape again, not for a long time. To some people at least. And if you don't believe that. Well-," Malcolm trailed off as he turned his attention on over to where Alexander was still watching.

Listening to Malcolm explain of what the humans did to their dead, Ray glanced back to where the humans were. He then couldn't help but think back of his own father. The older orangutan had looked so broken, so lonely when Ray had found him and had stayed with his father's body almost all that day, knowing that he would never get up again. Blinking with wet eyes, Ray found that it was very hard for him to forget sleeping next to his father when he was still alive. Reaching out to the older ape in his sleep with his father sleepily shifting and hand to take his in their tree nest.

Feeling a hand placed upon his shoulder, Ray slowly turned to look up at Alexander who was giving him a sad look. That was right, he had told the human teenager of what had happened to his father and Alex was trying to console him. He appreciated the gesture and quickly wiped at his eyes with the back of his arm.

Aside form the sad occasion, this singing that the humans were doing was quite nice and Ray could hear Alex humming along with them. Curiously Ray himself experimented with doing the same but the results were... Unsatisfactory but Alexander seemed to enjoy at his attempt though.

A little while after, the humans had stopped singing and a few of them began to fill the hole with the mound of dirt next to it. He was vaguely aware that Blue Eyes was still questioning Malcolm about the burial, getting more frustrated as he did so. Looking back, Ray had noticed that Blue Eyes was not quite as good as Caesar with the word-speaking, yet, and Malcolm was trying his best to understand a lot of the princes' hand-speak. Ray though, did not try to follow their conversation and imagined what it was like to be underground. Would it be terrible, not being able to move? Or would it be more like how one is held by their own mother? Safe and warm, embraced by her loving arms as she held on tightly and securely.

Once the last humans were gone from the spot, Ray turned around to see what the others within their own group were doing.

"You and Alex find home here?" Blue Eyes finally questioned after a while.

Malcolm heaved out a sigh and turned to look back at where the humans were previously.

"Maybe? Yeah. I think I recognize a few of them. They're decent people. They'll treat us well as long as we pull out weight," Malcolm informed, noticing Blue Eyes shoulders slump just ever so slightly. "But I made a promise to Ellie that Alex and I are going to help you guy through this journey to find a new home. It's the least I-, we can do to pay you guys back for all your help and for… Ruining your lives…" he finished.

Upon hearing this, both Ash and Ray's faces lit up, Alexander had a smile upon his lips while Blue Eyes had a relieved look upon him. Rocket on the other hand had a look of indifference to him but they all could tell that he was glad that Malcolm and Alex were deciding to stick around with them as well, even if he didn't show it on his face.

At this Ray couldn't help but feel that this was something important that did not come to an end but the start of something much more. He didn't know what it was yet but with the six of them heading towards the sunset, it felt like the start of a new beginning.

* * *

 **Alrighty! Lots and lots of characters introduced in this chapter. I recently watched gameplay for Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier and I was absolutely thrilled with it. The characters were pretty moving and since they are cannon to the movies, I think I'll introduce them here too.**

 **Thing is, they were always going to be added in one way or another so I hope their introduction didn't break up the narrative too much.**

 **(Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier Characters)**

Khan - The stern leader of their little troop

Pauleen - Khan's mate ( **her name was not mentioned anywhere so I'm giving her a stand in name for now** )

Tola - Khan's eldest son

Bryn - Khan's middle son

Juno - Khan's youngest son

Oaka - Bryn's mate

Clarence - One of the orangutan elders

 **(Characters from War for the Planet of the Apes that makes and appearance here)**

Percy - One of the orangutan elders and was the orangutan who got the lashings and was shot in the movie...

 **(Original Characters in this section…)**

Thorn - The chimpanzee who attacked Glade

Fern - Thorn's now deceased younger brother.


	24. Chapter 24

**Woo! Right before New Years! (for me at least, XD). I hope you all have had a fantastic New Years everybody! Please enjoy chapter 24!**

* * *

Later that afternoon the traveling group found a secluded spot to rest for the rest of the evening. They all tied up their horses, with the apes climbing up into the nearby trees to nest in while both Malcolm and Alexander resting beneath them.

While he sat within his tree next, Ash peered down at both Alex and Malcolm, finding it rather odd that the humans were resting upon the ground. But then again the gorillas did it as well, so he didn't find it that much odder than usual. Glancing off to the side, he watched as Ray had built himself a small nest and had quickly turned in for the rest of the night, immediately drifting off to sleep. Rotating around to look behind him, he could then see both his father and Blue Eyes signing to each other while there was still a little bit of light out, most likely discussing more plans about their journey. With a deep breath, Ash had then turned his attention away from the two other apes and set his gaze upon the darkening sky, watching as the beginning of twinkling starlights dotting the heavens.

After a while of just looking up at the stars, Ash felt someone tapping him on the shoulder, causing him to turn and see that his father had climbed up next to him.

" _How you doing son?_ " Rocket gestured with just the barest of the sun's light showing his signs.

" _I am well father,_ " Ash answered back with a warm smile, then tilted his head at the older ape. " _You father?_ "

" _Tired… But I am well,,_ " Rocket rumbled with a deep chuckle as he rubbed his son's head fondly before placing their foreheads together.

" _You rest father, I will take first watch,_ " Ash signed back to the older ape, gaining a nod from his sire.

Watching the older chimp making himself comfortable in one of the tree's branches, Ash turned to look at Blue Eyes and offered his friend a smile as well. His friend however merely deadpanned back at him before going up to nest in one of the other nearby trees. Taking in a deep breath and letting his gaze roam around the darkening land. Ash soon enough let his mind wander elsewhere. Wandering back to the ape colony, to where his mother, his sweet Maple and the rest of the apes were at. Oh how he longed to be back with them, all of them. During their journey he had often pondered on how the rest of the apes were doing back in the city. Were they okay? Did they have food to eat? Were they being protected? Of course Ash knew that his uncle Caesar would do everything in his power to protect his mother, Maple and the rest of the apes but Ash himself couldn't help but worry, even if he didn't show it.

Sighing, Ash's face fell as he let his gaze fall a little bit, thinking back to when they were about to first leave on their journey.

"Ash!" Ash had heard his uncle Caesar call for him, causing him to look up from his spot with maple.

He could see that his uncle needing him and Ash stood up slowly and walked on over to where his uncle stood. He could see the older chimpanzee did not look well still but Caesar still stood strong and proud among the apes.

" _Yes uncle Caesar?_ " Ash asked hesitantly.

"Follow me," Caesar responded simply before turning around and leading the way.

Ash curiously turned to look at Maple and could see the confusion on her face as well. He quickly gestured to her that he would return before following his leader to a secluded spot, away from the busying apes. Standing there, Ash hesitantly look around as it was just him and Caesar nearby some of the human buildings. He looked at his uncle's backside before the older ape slowly turned around to look at him. Lowering his gaze a bit, Ash had thought that Caesar had brought him here because he had done something wrong but then Caesar spoke up.

"I need you and Blue Eyes to find us a new home."

That perked the young chimpanzee up, causing him to tilt his head in confusion.

" _Find a new home?_ " Ash questioned, not understanding.

At this Caesar nodded and walked up to him.

" _I need you to journey with Blue Eyes, Ray and your father down south of here._ " Caesar gestured.

" _But why? Is our home not here Caesar?_ " Ash questioned.

At this, Caesar smiled at Ash but the young ape could tell that it was a different type of smile. While smiling indicated that one was happy, Caesar's looked… Sad.

" _Apes are no longer safe here, fighting with the human soldiers. And if we are to keep apes safe and have a future. We must find a new home,_ " Caesar explained slowly.

At this Ash lowered his head and thought for a moment until he nodded slowly, understanding. He then glanced back up at Caesar and questioning look upon his features again.

" _Why choose me Caesar? Blue Eyes, my father and Ray should be enough for this journey. I am not good with them. I can't even protect myself._ "

Again Caesar offered him a smile, but this time it wasn't one that was full of sadness but one full of warmth and admiration. A look his own father would always give him.

" _You are very brave Ash and very strong. But you must go with them. Blue Eyes is intelligent, your father capable, and Ray has great insight but you,_ " Caesar paused in his signing to place a hand upon Ash's shoulder. "You are their happiness. Full of joy. And they will need that from you. To keep their minds from straying back here. To keep them together. To keep them going."

At this Ash's mouth hung agape just slightly as he stared into his uncle's golden green hues. Full of honesty and warmth.

"Will you do this for me Ash? Help Blue Eyes, your father and Ray on their journey to find us a new home?"

Ash had paused and looked away for a moment, thinking to himself. What Caesar was asking of him, was quite a lot. To leave his mother, Maple and the other apes behind… Traverse into the unknown. But then he guesses that Blue Eyes, his father and Ray were asked the same thing… And what ape would he be if he were to decline this offer and leave Blue Eyes and the others? Turning back to look at his uncle, Ash nodded.

" _I will do as you say Caesar. I will travel with Blue Eyes, Ray and my father. I will help them find us a new home,_ " Ash answered back.

Ash then paused a moment more, thinking on what Caesar had said about him. That he is to be their happiness and joy on their journey. He then smiled up at Caesar, showing him that he will do just that.

"Thank you. Ash," Caesar answered back with a warm smile as he saw Ash's.

The ape leader then slowly bent down and placed both of their foreheads together.

With the vision of him and Caesar fading from his memory, Ash heaved out a sigh to himself while he sat there. Keeping the others happy and their mind from wandering back to the colony had been difficult but with Malcolm and Alexander joining them, it made things a little easier. At times it was rather hard for him too as he would often think back of the apes and the colony and felt deeply saddened by leaving them. But he had to be strong, for Blue Eyes and the others. He had to keep smiling, to give them something to be happy about, to keep them all going on this journey. So that they could find a new home. A place that is safe for all apes.

Ash knew naught how long he stood watch there, all he knew was that it had become rather quite dark and that it was hard to see now. With only the light of the moon to blanket the land in its luminescence. Guiding the nightly creatures in their activities within the dark.

Hearing a crack, Ash whipped his head around, to see what was the source of the noise. His heart pounded loudly within his chest and he slowly unfastened his gun from his back, holding it at the ready. His eyes darting around within the darkness, using what bit of the moon's light to pinpoint who or what was making that noise. Glancing down at the ground, Ash could see that both Malcolm and Alexander's dark forms below, seeming undisturbed by the strange sounds. Whatever it was, it definitely is not a ground creature and is using the trees to move about instead. So he'll have to be very careful to see. Hearing a crack off towards his side, Ash immediately pointed the end of his gun at whatever the creature was.

"Ash it's me!" Blue Eyes voice cut through the darkness.

"Blue Eyes!?" Ash breathed out a sigh as he lowered his gun, absolutely relieved that is was his friend instead of some other creature.

Seeing the shadowy form of his friend approaching him on the branch, Ash quickly put away his gun and frowned at his honorary brother.

"I almost shot you," Ash grumbled.

"Sorry," Blue Eyes responded just as quickly. "Came to take over watching duty."

Grunting in response, Ash closed his eyes and opened his mouth in a long yawn. Not realizing how tired he was. He scratched at his neck as Blue Eyes made himself comfortable upon his perch. The two friends then just sat there upon the large tree branch, both staring out into the darkness for a moment before Ash grunted, letting Blue Eyes know that he was going to go rest.

"Ash wait!" Blue Eyes said softly, reaching out to touch Ash's arm, making his pause and turn to look at the prince in the darkness.

"What is it Blue Eyes?" Ash responded back in a quiet voice.

Ash could see his friend's head lower slightly, looking up at the starry night sky before turning to look at him.

"Do you… Do you think we will find it? A new home? For apes?" Blue Eyes asked, his voice full of uncertainty and doubt.

Upon hearing this, Ash couldn't help but frown slightly, hearing the uneasiness and fear within Blue Eyes' voice. Taking a deep breath, Ash turned to look at the moon for a moment, letting the silence come between the both of them. What doe he say? What can he say? Blue Eyes had been given such a burden by his own father that Ash himself couldn't comprehend it. Would they ever stop fighting? Would they ever find a new place to call their own? A home? These were questions of doubt that Ash had to ask himself as well. He wasn't a thinker, he knows that with Blue Eyes being the more to use his head when it comes to matters like these. But maybe he could alleviate his friends doubt? Share in this burden that was given to him? He couldn't help but remember Caesar's words. Asking him to help Blue Eyes in his time of need, which also extended to Ray and his father. With a long drawn out breath, Ash finally turned to look at Blue Eyes once more, a smile upon his features, even if Blue Eyes couldn't see his face in the dark.

"I think. That we will find a new home for apes. Not today. Not tomorrow. But someday. In the future. That is why your father sends us. That is why he trusts us with this journey," Ash responded.

"How do you know?" Blue Eyes questioned.

"Just feeling," Ash simply responded with a cheery voice before he reached out and placed a knuckle upon Blue Eyes' chest. "Hope."

As Ash sat there, he could see Blue Eyes' shadowy form no longer slouching, seeming to be pondering on what he had just said. He could then see Blue Eyes lifting his head a little higher and shoulders becoming a little straighter. The prince had then reached out and placed a hand upon his shoulder.

"Thank you, Ash," Blue Eyes said softly, his voice seemingly lifted, no longer holding that bit of doubt within it.

"Welcome, Blue Eyes," Ash responded, reaching out and placing a hand upon Blue Eyes' shoulder as well.

Yes, he was going to do what Caesar asked of him. Whenever the others are feeling down he will be there for them. To lift their spirits and give them a sense of hope so that they all could stay on their path. The path to find them a new home and bring everyone a brighter new future.

…

Winter watched from afar as Luca and Ajax had gone off to be with Caesar and the others apes. Walking through the parts of the city streets and keeping an eye on the injured and the females as they made their way towards a building to hopefully hide all of them, Winter had spotted Glade sitting by the streets with another ape. Curiously, Winter ambled on over and noticed that the bonobo was grooming another ape with a withered arm - Juno. The two smaller apes noticed him approaching and Glade beamed up at him.

" _Hello Winter,_ " Glade gestured to which Winter nodded once back before turning his green eyes to the other ape.

Glade curiously looked from Winter and then to the other chimpanzee sitting next to him before something lit up within the bonobo's mind and he stood up abruptly.

"Winter!" Glade said happily as he bounded up to the white haired gorilla and took him by the hand, leading him back to where the other ape with the withered arm sat. "Winter! This Juno! My good friend!" Glade said aloud happily. "Juno, this Winter!" he finished excitedly, introducing the both of them to each other.

Hesitantly, Winter looked down at Glade before he turned back to the other chimpanzee named Juno. Juno however narrowed his eyes at him and tilted his head slightly before he gave Glade an odd look.

" _This one?_ " Juno signed curiously to which Glade nodded exuberantly while Winter continued to stare at the two confusingly.

At this Juno's face lit up and he had let out an amused humming noise before he beamed back up at Winter, face full of happiness and mirth. The withered armed chimp then stood up and approached Winter, going around him once, looking him up and down first before finally stopping at his front again.

" _Hello Winter,_ " Juno greeted.

" _Hello..._ " Winter gestured back, not understanding what was going on between these two smaller apes in front of him.

" _You are Glade's friend?_ " Juno asked.

At the question, Winter turned to look at Glade who merely beamed back up at him. Reaching up to scratch at the back of his head, Winter did not know how to answer Juno. Even though he had met Glade just days ago, he wasn't sure if that would consider both he and Glade as friends yet per say, as far as he knows. But then again… He didn't really have many friends as well and Glade has been staying around him a lot longer. Has been kind to him. Helping him...

" _Yes?_ " Winter answered back with a grunt nod.

At this Juno's smile widened a bit more before he reached out and placed a knuckle upon Winter's chest before drawing his hand back and placing it upon his own torso.

"Then Winter. Is my friend. Too," Juno said slowly.

Upon hearing this, Winter blinked several times and he looked back and forth from the two smiling apes before him. For reasons unknown to him, hearing that from the other ape warmed something deep within his being and he couldn't help but return back those infectious smiles.

"Then I. Am. Happy. To have Juno. As friend. Too," Winter answered.

With that, the three apes whom were considered oddities, found themselves pant-laughing and signing merrily with one another. Forgetting that they were ever considered different but saw each other as good new friends, enjoying each other's company.

...

Red gruffed as he watched Caesar and the other warriors of their colony formulating a plan on their next move. Ever since the failed attempt at the beach, they had all but pulled back from the fighting and diverted their attention to lead the human soldiers around the city instead. Caesar was being careful by dragging the soldiers around as he kept the females and wounded in a building within the human city as taking them across the bridge to the safety of the forest was no longer an option. Caesar had also regulated most of the Gorilla Guards into defending the wounded and females as well… Quite the smart move, their leader.

He narrowed his eyes at Caesar before hearing approaching footsteps behind him. Turning around, Red was met with Rex and Pongo, both approaching him and looking about.

" _Why did you call on us two Red?_ " Pongo signed as he approached the rusted haired gorilla.

" _If we are to start a new life away from Caesar, we must lead the females away from here,_ " Red stated causing the two to look at him questionably.

" _What are you talking about? Caesar has now deemed the bridge dangerous for the females to cross. He has closed it off for all of us,_ " Pongo shot back.

" _And that is where we come in,_ " Red gestured slowly to both Rex and Pongo, the two looking at each other curiously before eyeing Red again. " _I have a plan to make Caesar let the females go back to the forest._ "

Red then signed slowly and close to his chest, just so that Rex and Pongo could see. As Red finished with his proposal, he finally lowered his hands and watched the other two apes in front of him with his acid green eyes.

" _Did you tell Grey of this?_ " Rex asked.

" _No. Grey does not need to know. He will not approve or allow it,_ " Red signed back simply.

" _What makes you sure this will work? It could kill everyone,_ " Pongo warned.

"It. Will. Work," Red said calmly, eyeing the two.

Pongo looked up at Red for a moment longer before he lowered his shoulders and heaved out a breath before nodding. Rex on the other hand seemed hesitant for a moment as well before he finally nodded, agreeing to the plan.

" _Remember. This is only between the three of us, in order for this to work. No one else must know. Not even Grey,_ " Red gestured.

" _Understood,_ " both Pongo and Rex signed back.

Grunting with a nod, Red dismissed the two other apes and slowly turned back around to look at Caesar and the other apes of his inner circle. Soon they would all be free of Caesar's rule and be free to leave and seek a new life. Far away from here.

...

The next following morning after they had left the singing humans behind and rested within that secluded area, the group of six came upon the coast. Seeing the large body of water that seemed to expand endlessly before them. With an excited hoot, Ray had quickly dismounted from his horse and went bounding off towards the surf. Darting across the sands and began playing tag with waves as they came rolling in. Soon enough Ash had soon joined his side, both of them slapping at the small waves of water and doing handstands upon the wet sands, pant-laughing all the while.

Blue Eyes on the other hand, had taken it upon himself to secure both Ash's and Ray's horses before he had perched himself upon a rock. As he watched both of the apes play in the surf, Blue Eyes couldn't help himself as he looked a little cross at them. Seemingly frustrated that these two weren't taking their journey to find them all a new home seriously. Rocket, Malcolm and Alexander had all came up to the young prince and sat around him but didn't notice that they were all looking at him a bit warily, seeing his agitation, nor did he see them looking at each other concernedly as well.

Rocket, without saying anything to the young prince, soon hopped off of the rocks and slowly made his way towards Ash and Ray. Malcolm and Alexander had exchanged nervous looks, wanting to say something but not wanting to intrude on the ape affairs. Blue Eyes however perked up his head, noticing that the older chimpanzee was making his way on over to both Ash and Ray, most likely going to discipline them. For a moment Blue Eyes was going to call out to Rocket, to tell him that he needn't to discipline the others but at the last second and for reasons unknown to him, he didn't. He knew that his father had put him in charge of their expedition, with Rocket agreeing that he should be leader. But whenever he saw the older ape, Blue Eyes himself felt like he should submit to Rocket in respect.

Rocket, after all, had been the Alpha before his father was. Being well versed in the ways of the world, unlike him. And for that unknown reason, it just felt wrong to give orders to his honorary uncle. Malcolm and Alexander looked like they were holding back on wanting to say something to stop Rocket as well but stayed quiet. So Blue Eyes, Malcolm and Alexander just sat there and watched, all of them feeling a bit sorry for Ash and Ray, who were just taking the time on their long journey to have a little fun.

They all watched anxiously as Rocket drew up to both of the young apes. Ash and Ray stopping in their play within the waters, looking up at the older ape, to see what he would do. Rocket glowered at the both of them and both Ash and Ray glanced warily at one another before they both lowered their heads a little, a look of anxiousness overcoming their features.

While the three stood there the surf slowly rolled up once more. As the small wave drew near Rocket pulled back his arm and then suddenly hit the surf, splashing it onto both Ash and Ray, surprising the two momentarily. Staring up at Rocket with shocked expressions on their faces the older chimp had then opened his mouth, letting out a series of pant-laughter before both Ash and Ray shrieked in unison and splashed the older ape back. The two young apes they pant-hooted in laughter as well as they began to run while Rocket chased them.

Blue Eyes continued to watch in astonishment as they all tumbled about in the surf, play wrestling with each other, hooting and screeching in laughter. Mouth hung agape in shock still, Blue Eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing before him. Hearing a couple of noises beside him, Blue Eyes turned his head quickly to see both Malcolm and Alexander laughing at the three other apes jovially.

"Looks like they're all having fun. Don't you think?" Malcolm inquired from Blue Eyes, turning to look at the young prince.

"Apes should not be having fun. We should be searching for a new home," Blue Eyes grumbled back with a frown.

"Oh come on Blue Eyes. Learn to lighten up a little," Alexander hopped in on the conversation, causing Blue Eyes to grunt in answer.

Looking away from the two humans, Blue Eyes gazed back upon Rocket, Ash and Ray, the three apes having quite the merry time together. Seeing them all so happy and laughing. Blue Eyes felt a powerful urge to join in on their fun, and almost did, but something stopped him - he wasn't sure what. But watching them all so happy from afar, he felt a little better. With everything that has been going on lately; Ray losing his father and both Rocket and Ash almost losing each other. Having experiencing death or close to death, the three apes now had one another to lean on for this journey. Maybe that was what had kept him from joining them, feeling that he might be intruding on something that was private between the three, while he himself had only lost an uncle… And uncle that he couldn't save...

But then both Ash and Ray ran up and threw wet sand in his face, surprising him out of his thoughts. Staring at the two with wide eyes, Blue Eyes looked around and found out that it was not just him but at both Malcolm and Alexander as well who had been assaulted with the wet ball of sand. The three of them stared at both Ash and Ray with wide surprised eyes before Blue Eyes had let out a mock hoot-pant along with laughter from both Malcolm and Alexander as well. All leaping down from their perch upon the rocks, onto the beach and gave chase to the two apes that had thrown wet sand at them.

And for a little while, Blue Eyes did not worry about death, or war, or what he might or might not find in the south. All he could think of now, was splashing sand and water at whomever he can within their small group, enjoying a merry time together by the surf, pant-laughing all the while.


	25. Chapter 25

Once they've had their fun and all but tired out, the youngsters of the traveling crew finally laid upon the sands, basking within the sun's warm embrace, while Rocket and Malcolm went to go clean themselves up.

"We should get ready too. While it's still early," Blue Eyes informed the others, propping himself up onto his elbows.

"Do. We have to?" Ash complained aloud in a whine, moving into a sitting position as well.

"Yes. We must," Blue Eyes answered back, chuckling lightly at Ash's antics.

With that said between all of them, the four of them finally got up off from the sandy beach and dusted themselves off. Making their way to where their horses were, Blue Eyes was just about to untie his horse when he heard an amused voice off to the side. Rounding his head around to see what was going on, Blue Eyes was surprised to Ash amusingly looking up at Alexander who was looking.. A little different. Abandoning his horse for the moment, Blue Eyes wandered on over and joined but Ash and Ray, the three of them forming a circle around the human teenager.

"Guys? Hey what the!" Alexander protested when Ash had suddenly reached out and touched the side of his naked torso.

"Where hair?" Ash asked earnestly as he inspected Alexander's body, reaching out again to poke at Alex's side and causing the human teenager to grunt again.

"What? I… Uh… I don't have any?" Alexander answered back. "Hey stop doing that!" Alex grunted, moving away from Ash as he was poked in the ribs again.

"Why?" Ash asked curiously, pausing.

"That… tickles…" Alexander bemoaned slowly, averting his eyes.

This however prompted Ash to grin at both Blue Eyes and Ray mischievously, confusing the two a moment as realization hit them. Before Blue Eyes or Ray could stop Ash, the bulkier chimp had suddenly leaped up at Alexander, surprising the teen and knocking him down. Ash then reached out and ran his fingers all over Alexander's side, causing him to laugh aloud uncontrollably. Soon enough, Ray joined in, he too assisting Ash in the tickle play by using his longer arms to get to the other teen's side.

"Guys! Stop! I can't breathe!" Alexander wheezed in between his fits of laughter.

Blue Eyes however merely watched Ash and Ray tickle Alexander within the sands, a small smile upon his own features. It was odd to him, he had only thought that apes had enjoyed the tickling sensations that they all provided to each other. Yet here he was, seeing that a human too enjoyed being tickled. How strange. So different, yet the same.

It was a little longer before Ash and Ray finally stopped in their tickling, leaving Alexander a mess upon the sands. While the teen was recovering, both Ash and Ray inspected the human teen's body a little more now.

"Where toe-thumb?" Ray asked as he stared at Alexander's bare feet, with Ash looking down as well.

"Toe... Thumb?" Alexander inquired, recovering enough finally to comprehend the question, looking deeply confused this time.

"Toe-thumb!" Ash perked up before lifting his right foot and wiggling the thumb like digit around to show Alex. "Toe-thumb!"

"Oh… I uhh… I don't have a toe thumb? Just a toe," Alexander answered back, lifting his foot up slightly and wiggling his toe.

Ash and Ray hummed in unison and took a closer look at Alexander's foot. Blue Eyes on the other hand peered behind the other two apes, unsure on how to feel about all of this revelation. Humans were so strange to him. They looked almost exactly like apes, but lacked the proper necessities of what a normal ape should have. These are thicker limbs and toe-thumbs used for climbing, thick coarse hair to keep the cold away and among other things. It was baffling to Blue Eyes to say the least. It was as if the humans were made to mimic apes but were poorly made in the process, a mockery of what they are.

" _How do humans keep warm with no hair?_ " Ray signed to both Alex and then to the others.

Alex had to narrow his eyes at the hand signs and think for a moment before he figured out what Ray was asking.

"We wear clothes. I guess…" Alexander answered and signed at the same time, getting some of the hand-speak words wrong.

"Why do humans. Have long legs?" Ash asked this time as he poked Alexander in the thigh, causing the teenager to move away from the bulky chimp, remembering the tickling assault that he had received.

"I don't know man. It's just how we are," Alex answered.

"Hard for humans to climb?" Ray asked, his dark green eyes wide and seeking.

"Uh… Some humans can't climb I guess…" Alexander responded slowly.

Ash then peered up at Alexander for a long while before he spoke up again.

"Humans don't have. Snout. Have long pointy nose. Flat face…" Ash pointed out Alexander's oddities, causing the teen to frown in return. "Ugly," Ash finished causing Blue Eyes and Ray to pant-hoot in laughter among themselves.

"Hey! I'm not ugly!" Alexander responded, going beet red in the face, amusing the three younger apes.

The teen frowned at Ash for a moment before he crossed his arms and seemed to smile down at the ape.

"You're one to talk, you should look at yourself in the mirror sometimes," Alex shot back, causing Ash to tilt his head in confusion whilst both Ray and Blue Eyes pant-laughed at him this time.

Looking dumbstruck, Ash glanced from Blue Eyes to Ray quickly before he let out a screech and tackled Alexander back into the sands, resuming in his tickling of the teenager. Unbeknownst to the four youngsters, Rocket and Malcolm had gotten themselves ready and came back to get them.

"Children," Rocket grunted with a unamused frown, while Malcolm merely smiled at the scene before him.

Malcolm had then placed a hand upon Rocket's shoulder before moving towards Alex and the three young apes.

"Okay, you guys ready to go?" Malcolm spoke up.

All four of them stopped in their playing, the young apes turning to grunt in response while Alexander answered with a "yeah," instead. The boys then quickly cleaned themselves off and retrieved their respective horses, finally making their way on over to where Rocket and Malcolm were.

"You guys had fun?" Malcolm asked.

Ash and Ray both nodded happily, Alexander smiled while Blue Eyes grunted once in reply. With that Rocket then took the front of the group and began leading them away from the coast, back onto the roads.

…

While busying himself to get ready to be with the next group of apes to divert the humans, Glade perked up when he heard his name being called out behind him. He froze in what he did and slowly turned around to see Juno happily approaching him. As Juno approached the withered arm chimpanzee reached out and touched knuckles with Glade before pausing momentarily, noticing the gun strapped to the bonobo's back.

" _Glade where are you going?_ " Juno asked curiously, looking his friend over.

Glade hesitantly smiled at Juno.

" _Glade is suppose to go with other apes. To lead human soldiers away from the females and wounded. Towards the west. Of human city,_ " Glade answered back slowly.

Watching Glade's hand gestures, Juno's smiling face slowly faded.

" _Why was I not selected as well?_ " Juno asked earnestly, noticing Glade's hair starting to stand on end and the bonobo averting eye contact.

" _Because Juno-_ "

"Because Juno. Is not needed. Out there!" a deep voiced rumbled from the side, causing both Glade and Juno to jump, turning to see who had spoke aloud to them.

There with a fierce glare upon his icy colored eyes stood Tola, Juno's oldest brother. The bigger chimpanzee approached the two and glared down at the withered armed ape who cowered slightly away from his older sibling.

"What is Juno good for? In a battle?" Tola belittled the now cowering ape.

"Tola!" Glade spoke up, getting in between the two brothers. "Enough," Glade voiced lowly.

Tola huffed in amusement, turning his icy cold stare onto the bonobo who stood between him and his youngest brother.

"Why does Glade even stay with Juno? Juno is weak. Cannot fight," Tola growled, eyeing Juno who cowered slightly behind the bonobo.

Glade huffed and took a step to the side, using his body as a shield to block Tola's glare at Juno. When his view was blocked, Tola then turned his cold stare upwards and met with Glade's bright warm green ones.

"Tola is wrong. Juno not weak. Juno is strong," Glade spoke to the icy eyed chimp.

At this, Tola huffed in amusement before his face turned into that of a smirk.

"You are the one who is wrong. Juno will never be strong. Look at him," Tola pointed out with a jutting finger.

Glade glanced slowly behind him, seeing his best friend keeping his head low while Tola berated him. Huffing, Glade turned back to the older chimp.

"Tola may be right… Juno may not be strong like Tola or Glade… But Juno is stronger, in here," Glade indicated by pointing towards the middle of his own chest. "And here," he finished quietly by tapping his head. "There are different ways. Of being strong Tola," Glade finished.

At this Tola narrowed his eyes at the bonobo before shooting Juno one last glance. After a brief moment, Tola huffed out and a sneered back at Glade before he turned around and let out a bark, rallying the other apes to him.

Watching Tola take his leave, Glade heaved out a breath he didn't know he was even holding. Tola may be difficult to handle but the chimpanzee did admire strong apes that would stand up to him… Sometimes. Glade only wished that he was more reasonable like his other two brothers - Bryn and Juno who were accepting of all apes… His features slowly softening, Glade finally turned back around to get a good look at Juno who was watching Tola still. Reaching out, Glade placed his fingers under Juno's chin and raised the cowering chimpanzee's face to meet his.

" _Is Juno okay?_ " Glade asked worriedly.

Juno lowered his head again but his eyes darted quickly to where Tola was at momentarily before eyeing the ground again. He then nodded silently to respond to Glade's question.

"Do you really think that I am strong?" Juno asked, lifting his head up to look up at Glade, his eyes slightly wet.

Glade looked at the withered armed chimp but couldn't help himself as a warm smile spread upon his lips. He then reached out and slowly took a hold of Juno, pulling the other ape into a warm embrace, nuzzling his snout with Juno's. This small action seemed to have had a immediate effect as it caused Juno to start pant-laughing silently.

"Don't listen to Tola. Juno always strong," Glade pant-laughed in reassurance as Juno returned the nuzzling before finally taking a step back away.

" _So strange you,_ " Juno signed, a smile upon his face.

" _But, made Juno happy,_ " Glade responded, seeing the mirth return into his friend's face.

"Thank you. Glade," Juno thanked softly, reaching out and placing a hand upon the bonobo's shoulder.

Glade smiled warmly back and reached up to tenderly place a hand upon Juno's cheek. As they both stood there, Glade perked up when he noticed that the group of apes were now leaving. Turning back to Juno, Glade reached out and placed a hand upon his friend's shoulder.

" _Glade is sorry that Glade did not tell Juno. Very dangerous. Please understand Glade,_ " Glade signed to his best friend.

Juno however smiled sadly and nodded to the bonobo, understanding why his friend didn't tell him, even though it still hurt him. Juno then watched as Glade's bright green eyes wandered and spotted something in the distance. Following his friend's gaze, Juno could see a particular white gorilla helping many of the females carry the wounded into the building afar. Turning back to his best friend, Juno could see the tenderly look within the bonobo's bright green eyes.

" _Juno help look after Winter?_ " Glade asked, turning back to look at Juno.

" _Alright. I will keep my eyes on him for you,_ " Juno pant-laughed as he lightly pushed at Glade's chest. " _But you must come back or Winter and I will be sad,_ " Juno finished.

"Okay," Glade answered with a big smile.

As he turned to leave, Glade had paused momentarily before he turned to face Juno. He then brought his forehead down and touched it with Juno's, the two of them standing there quietly for a moment before Glade finally pulled back and bounded off into the distance.

...

Alexander settled into the journey, not really worrying much about what he and the others were going to find along the way. Instead he, like Ash and Ray, simply enjoyed each new turn of the coast as it came into view. He had found that he really enjoyed the rambunctious Ash and curious Ray. Blue Eyes on the other hand seemed to be a bit too focused within their small group, always seeming to be conversing with his father and Rocket about which way they should take. Hardly taking the time to join in with them to enjoy the scenery.

About mid morning, they had stopped momentarily by the ruins of a large house and found pomegranates growing among the side. Alexander and the others had all taken the moment to stop and eat the red bearing fruits. He and his father watched the younger apes amusingly as they each cracked open their fruit and excitedly picked out the red juicy seeds, having never seen such a fruit before in their lives.

"Fruit! Red! Frog eggs!" Ash exclaimed loudly in a cheerful voice as he picked out a few and ate them, smiling all the while.

"Those are seeds. And they're called Pomegranates," Malcolm corrected.

"Pom… Gran... Nat?" Ray tried to say the word, tilting his head up at Malcolm.

"Nevermind. Just enjoy it," Malcolm waived it off with a chuckle, confusing Ray.

"For what it's worth, you were close enough," Alexander leaned in from the side to whisper and sign to Ray, who beamed up at him before happily going back to eating his fruit.

While they all ate away, Blue Eyes had curiously looked at the weirdly named fruit with the red frog like eggs and turned to face Rocket.

" _Know what these are uncle Rocket?"_ Blue Eyes gestured to the older ape whom was slowly eating at his own fruit by the mouthful, spitting out the seeds, once the sweet red juices were extracted.

" _Just sweet fruit. I think I had it before. A long time ago though,_ " Rocket simply informed.

At this, Blue Eyes merely shrugged and decided to eat the tart sweet fruit as well.

Watching them, Alexander had decided to pick a few more off of the trees and stuff the fruits into his bag. Things such as these were considered a delicacy and maybe if he took great care, maybe they can grow elsewhere too. It wasn't long until the group found more arrays of fruit along the way. They had found green grapes, raspberries, blueberries, figs, with Alexander making sure to collect a nice amount of them.

Eventually they all decided to rest again for the night near a secluded open area. Alexander had just fallen asleep when he was awaken by the ape's alarming calls. Bolting upright quickly, Alexander looked around himself as he could feel the ground beneath him shaking, enough to cause the tree to shake violently that held the apes. He was just about to stand up when his father had quickly taken a hold of him.

"Hey! It's okay! Stay calm!" Malcolm turned around to call out to the apes that were holding onto the tree tightly.

It felt like a long time before the shaking beneath all of them had stopped. As Alex was slowly released from his father's grasp, he took a wary step forward and looked about as the apes continued to screech and hoot above them. Alex could then distinctly hear his father calling to the apes in a soothing voice. Turning back around the then walked on over and stood by his father's side.

"It's okay guys. Come on. It's gone now. No need to be afraid," Malcolm spoke softly, encouraging Blue Eyes and the others to come down from the tree.

Eventually they all eventually came down from their perch, Rocket being the first one to test out if it were safe for them or not. Then Ash, Blue Eyes and Ray finally followed once they saw that the older chimp seemed to be okay. Alexander watched as his father had walked on over and placed a hand upon the ape's shoulders. Looking down to the side, Alex was about to reach out for Ray, that was until Ray had suddenly reached out and clung onto him. His dark green eyes looking around frantically still.

"Hey buddy. It's alright," Alexander soothed the still tembling orangutan.

"What. Shaking?" Blue Eyes spoke aloud, his eyes wide as well.

"That, my friends. Is an earthquake," Malcolm said aloud with a tired sigh.

"What earth… earth… What?" Ash asked, having giving up to pronounce the word properly.

"An earthquake. It's what happens when tectonic plates converge and-"

"Dad. Not now..." Alexander couldn't help but groan to his father before giving Ray a few reassuring pats on the back.

"Right. Sorry… Uh… How about you all just sleep down here on the ground with Alex and I tonight? I don't think you all should sleep in the trees in case we have another quake again," Malcolm suggested.

Noticing that the apes were still apprehensive and still couldn't quite understand his father. Alex however merely smiled and persuaded the apes to nest on the ground with them for the rest of the evening. He watched as the apes all signed to each other quietly before they all seemed to nod and agree with what was proposed.

So now here laid Alexander, in a pile of hairy limbs and snoring bodies. Looking towards his left, Alexander could see that Ray was holding onto him tightly, the young orangutan sleeping soundlessly after the earthquake. Smiling at the ape's form in the dark, Alex had turned his head to stare back up at the twinkling stars. He didn't mind Ray holding onto him in his sleep. Honestly he sort of enjoyed it, knowing that he was comforting someone who was scared. It made him feel like a big brother of sorts. And he cherished it.

…

"Grey?" Cedar spoke softly as she watched her mate tearing something down from inside the human building.

Taking a step back, Cedar observed as Grey huffed and puffed as he dragged the large sheet of fabric and padded his way on over to a secluded spot within the building. After the battle on the bridge, Caesar had deemed it now too dangerous to cross and had found them all this giant human building that housed all of their wounded, healers, females and their children. It was grandiosely spacious and all of the apes had built themselves sleeping areas, a hearth for a fire, had a store of food. They had, for the most part, built the start of a very small village within the building.

Watching Grey work away furiously at their own nest, Cedar approached her slightly younger mate and reached out to touch his shoulder, causing him to stop and turn to face her.

" _Grey, why won't you speak to me? What is wrong?_ " Cedar asked, noticing Grey flare his nose momentarily.

For days on end now, Grey had disappeared out of sight very often. Not to go with the party of apes to lead the humans around the city but off… Elsewhere and it was concerning to her. Grey sure has done this many a times before but usually he would inform her of it. However this time he was being quite secretive from her and it worried her.

" _Nothing for you to worry about Cedar,_ " Grey signed back with a huff before turning back around and continued to build them their nest, tying the sheet of fabric into tight knots and weaving them into a large bedding.

At this, Cedar huffed out sadly and was about to reach out to her Grey but stopped herself. Instead she turned around and left him alone for the time being and went in search of their daughter.

Climbing down the stone steps, Cedar looked about and can see that many of their apes were all strewn about, with many of the females tending to the wounded, the children and each other. As soon as she reached the bottom floor, Cedar located Maple sitting alongside with Lake and two other female chimps; Primrose and a very heavily pregnant Oaka, whom seemed to be the center of attention as the three younger females excitedly signed to the pregnant female.

Slowly approaching them, Cedar stood a ways off and waited for her daughter to notice her. Soon enough, Oaka had caught sight of Cedar and lightly tapped Maple on the shoulder gesturing off to where the older female stood. The brown haired female had glanced back at her friends momentarily before she made her way towards her mother, embracing her.

"Mother," Maple cooed.

"Maple," Cedar answered lovingly before pulling back and looking down at her child. " _How are you doing? Eating well?_ " She asked.

Maple nodded up at her mother and slowly looking around a small frown upon her lips.

" _More apes are getting hurt everyday and we cannot go back to the forest because it is too dangerous,_ " Maple gestured sadly.

" _More apes get hurt everyday, yes,_ " Cedar agreed as she rubbed Maple's arm up and down. " _But they do it to protect us and the little ones._ "

" _What about the ones that are in the forest? Are they not in danger too?_ " Maple asked hesitantly.

Cedar had remembered Caesar and the others talking about the apes that were sent back into the forest. Ever since the bridge was closed off, Caesar had sent a small band of apes to cross the bridge at night to warn the apes of what was happening. Of course during that time they had all heard the distinct reports of gunfire, even those dark hours and only hoped that their apes made it.

" _Caesar had sent a few apes to them. They will most likely be waiting for all of us to return,_ " Cedar answered.

At this Maple, nodded, slowly and took in a deep breath before looking away momentarily.

" _How is Father? He looks troubled,_ " Maple asked, turning back to look her mother in the eyes.

So, she wasn't the only one that noticed how troubled her mate looked, even enough to worry their own daughter. Blinking down at Maple, Cedar offered the younger female a gentle smile.

" _You need not worry about your father. Your father is strong, just very busy and tired from what is happening around him. That is all,_ " Cedar answered before she hugged Maple tightly. " _Now go. Your friends are waiting for you,_ " Cedar pushed Maple towards the other three female apes waiting for her.

With that said between the both of them, Cedar watched as Maple glanced back behind her for a moment before fully turning around and facing Lake and the others. Cedar however merely sighed and turned her sights towards the outside where darkness was soon drawing near them.

When nightfall finally came upon them, Cedar, finishing with the last of her duties, was about to make her way back to where her Grey was but stopped when she had sighted Maple standing close by with Tinker. Her daughter had asked and begged her to allow her to keep Tinker company for the night as she really had no one else. Cedar of course was against it at first, but as she watched her daughter and Tinker from afar, both signing about missing Ash, did she finally relent and allow the younger female to stay with the other female. It had hurt her dearly but she understood that Maple's kind gentle heart wouldn't allow her beloved Ash's mother to be by herself.

Making her way back up the steps to where Grey had been building their nest. Cedar padded through the long hallway until finally she came upon the room where Grey had built them their nest, the brown haired male sitting within the middle of it, staring out of the windows at the bright moon. Tapping the side of the wall to announce her arrival, Cedar watched as Grey turned slowly to face her.

" _Where is Maple?_ " Grey had asked.

" _She is keeping Tinker company for tonight,_ " Cedar answered as she approached her mate and sat down in the nest bedding with him.

Grey merely grunted lowly before looking off down to the side, seeming to think silently to himself. Cedar sat there with him, staying silent and just watching.

"Cedar?" Grey spoke quietly.

"Yes Grey?" Cedar answered, perking up slightly at hearing her mate say her name.

"Do you think… I am terrible?" Grey asked as he turned to sign at her.

Upon seeing this, Cedar's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head at him.

"No Grey. You are not terrible. You are my mate. My husband. A good ape who protects us," Cedar answered.

Grey huffed as he turned his face away from her, looking back up at the moon once more.

"I. Do not. Feel that. Way," Grey answered slowly. "Should. Have stopped this. Prevented this. But now. Apes in danger."

Hearing his broken hearted words, Cedar couldn't help but feel for her Grey. Sure he had kept secrets from the other apes when Koba was still around but they did it out of protecting the apes. Of course Grey had only told her recently and it shocked her but he was still her mate and she understood why he, Koba and wherever Stone was, did what they did. If only Pope didn't scheme everything then maybe things would have turned out differently. Tenderly, she reached out and took a hold of her mate's cheek, turning his head so that he was looking at her.

"This. Not your fault. Grey," Cedar spoke softly. "Caesar. Will know. What to do. For us."

Upon hearing his mate's words, Grey couldn't help but look away from her in shame, confusing Cedar.

"What. should I. Do?" Grey asked quietly, not meeting his Cedar in the eyes still.

"You. Will know. In here," Cedar beamed as she slowly placed her hand upon Grey's chest, feeling the strong heart that beat within it.

Grey looked down at himself, where's Cedar's hand was and he slowly let his dark green eyes trail back up to meet hers. There in the moonlight, she glowed beautifully just as he had remembered her all those years ago.

Cedar smiled warmly at Grey and decided to affectionately groom him, reaching up and picking out the small pieces of fabric that was stuck within his hair. Blinking slowly, Grey reached up and took a hold of Cedar's hand, stopping her from her ministrations. Surprised by this, Cedar curiously looked at her mate but the male merely stared back at her before he leaned in, tenderly rubbing his cheek with hers. Huffing with a small pant-laughter, Cedar returned the gesture, which soon developed into light kisses and more soft touches.

Eventually Grey placed himself over Cedar, pushing her into their bedding with both of his arms to the side of her as he met her serene eyes with his dark ones. Cedar reached up and placed her hands upon her mate's chest, feeling the warmth of his skin and hard muscles that flexed ever so slightly underneath it. Grey then reached down and caressed Cedar's cheek with his hand, staring intensely into his mate's eyes. With a low huff, Grey then bent downward towards Cedar and locked lips with her. The two of them then began exploring each other's body with their hands as if it were their first time together; Grey's form was muscular and hard whilst Cedar's was soft and supple. And with that the both of them coupled that night, unifying their bodies in love and passion, not having the care about the worry of the world around them.

...

A few more days had come to pass for the traveling group as nothing particular happened. Upon a particular morning, Rocket had climbed down from the high thrust of stone where he had been standing watch, while the others were eating quietly around him.

"We are. Being. Followed," Rocket growled lowly, causing everyone around him to stiffen.

"Are… Are you sure?" Malcolm asked in a low voice, trying to look as calm as possible.

Rocket nodded at the man.

" _Seen them up on the hills over there. I thought I saw them yesterday, but was not sure,_ " Rocket signed slowly.

Ash and Ray had stopped eating as well to watch Rocket sign while Blue Eyes had taken a step forward.

"I didn't catch all of that," Alex tapped Ash on the shoulder.

"Father says. He saw followers upon on hills," Ash explained.

"Maybe they are humans?" Blue Eyes asked hesitantly.

"No," Rocket said simply before looking around at all of them. "Riders. Not humans. Apes," he grunted before his face darkened. "And they have guns."

"Wait!" Malcolm perked up as he had just remembered something and looked down at all of them. "You're telling me that I was wrong? That those weren't humans that shot at us at the sanctuary weeks ago? That those are apes?" He finished incredulously.

Rocket however merely grunted and nodded once in confirmation.

"Apes. Tracking us?" Ash voiced in, seeming just as confused.

"Who?" Ray asked this time.

"And why?" Alex joined in as well.

Rocket merely shrugged.

"Maybe apes who still follow Pope… Or Koba…" Rocket voiced lowly, noticing Blue Eyes stiffen at the name. "All still unhappy," Rocket grunted, meeting all of their eyes before his gaze finally fell upon Blue Eyes. "Maybe they follow Pope and Koba's way still. Maybe want to kill. Or capture son of Caesar," Rocket finished, leaving them all in a eerie silence.

"What should we do then?" Malcolm asked hesitantly, turning to look at Rocket.

Rocket seemed to ponder for a moment before he glanced back up at the man.

"We hide. Wait for them. Give them a surprise," Rocket said aloud as he tapped his rifle, gaining a concerning look from the younger apes.

"Ape not kill ape," Blue Eyes protested in an astonished voice.

"Tell. Them. That," Rocket answered as he jutted his head in the direction of the hill where the older ape had seen their followers. "I'm sure they'll listen. They tried to kill us once already, remember?"

"I… I don't want to kill. Anyone," Blue Eyes said hesitantly.

"You think! They care!? They will. Kill! You. Blue Eyes," Rocket grounded out, approaching the prince.

For a moment the two seemed to face off. Ash, Ray and Alexander looked from one ape to the other, seeing the intense body language between the two, or rather from one of them. Suddenly though, Ash had quickly bounded towards the two apes and stood right in between them, meeting his father's gaze.

" _Father. Think, before you act,_ " Ash gestured towards Rocket who huffed and puffed once before his shoulder deflated and he looked away.

Rocket stared long and hard into Ash's serene green eyes before grunting and turning his glare elsewhere. Barking, Rocket waived his hand, looking frustrated all the while.

"Then. We hide. Let them pass. Lay a fake trail. Then take. Another way," the bald gray chimpanzee grunted.

"You think. It will work?" Blue Eyes asked after recovering himself.

"I think it'll work. Sounds like a good plan," Malcolm voiced in.

"Killing them. Would be better," Rocket said, looking a little agitated, gaining a sigh from Malcolm.

"Look, I don't mean to intrude on your argument but Alex and I have a say in this too. I understand that these apes… Whoever they are. Is bad business for all of us. And I truly understand that you want to get rid of them. For god knows what reason, but I agree with Blue Eyes here. We need not kill Rocket," Malcolm voiced.

Seeing that nearly everyone was against his ways Rocket turned his attention on over to where Blue Eyes stood, looking hesitant still. Heaving out a deep sigh, Rocket walked up towards Blue Eyes and touched his forehead to the younger chimp's.

" _Sorry. Your way is Caesar's way. We will not kill, unless we have to._ " Rocket apologized, pulling back to see the relieved look upon the young ape's face.

"Thank you uncle," Blue Eyes smiled up at the older chimpanzee.

…

More days had gone on by and Koba was still bed ridden for the most of it. The human… Ellie, however thoroughly kept him company for the most part. Ever since that day where he had lost himself, knowing that he couldn't help the apes, Koba had felt… Different. He didn't know what to think nor what to do. His hatred of the humans, the very thing that had kept him going all these years and made him who he was was now gone and it left him feeling… Empty, not knowing what to do or think.

"How are you doing today?" a light voice cut through the silence, disrupting him from his thoughts.

Naturally Koba would have yelled at the human named Ellie for disrupting his thoughts or at least thrown something at her. Instead though, he turned slowly to look at Ellie quietly.

"Better today…" Koba answered slowly.

At this, Ellie furrowed her brows and slowly knelt down besides Koba.

"Is something wrong Koba? You've been acting like this for a few days now. This isn't good for you, you know?" Ellie asked as she reached out and placed a hand upon Koba's right arm.

Koba looked down at Ellie's hand before slowly meeting her olive colored eyes with his golden-green and milky white ones. Since his episode a few days ago, Koba himself had felt very lost, not knowing what to do or how to feel. It was as if he's lost a piece of himself, that hatred that made him who and what he was… But then again, did he really want that piece of him back?

"Just… Very tired," Koba answered quietly, shifting his arm to scratch at his other arm, or what he could of it due to the cast.

Ellie frowned momentarily before she eyed the cast on Koba's arm.

"Well… Are you in pain?" Ellie asked, getting a silent head shake. "Are you hungry?"

Another silent head shake.

Taking in a deep breath, Ellie exhaled and eyed the part where Koba was scratching at his left arm.

"Do you want to take that off?" Ellie asked this time, indicating to the cast on Koba's arm.

The bonobo stopped scratching and turned slowly to look at Ellie before eyeing the cast. It was a very long silent moment before Koba slowly rounded his head back towards Ellie and nodded once at her.

"Okay, we'll get that off okay?" Ellie said softly as she placed her hand upon Koba's shoulder who simply binked back once at her.

With a sigh, Ellie stood back up and made her way towards the back of the house, where her medical supplies were. While walking away from Koba, Ellie couldn't help herself as she glanced behind her, seeing the silent bonobo staring off into the distance again.

...

Ray and the others continued to camp in the hills near the coast by the sea, like they did every night. But after about an hour after sunset, they would pile plenty of wood onto their fire and then leave, continuing down the human road until the moon rose into the dark sky. While traveling the dark the group of that there were many rivers and streams that flowed frequently from the mountains towards the ocean. While continuing on they all eventually they came to upon one of these rivers that had what used to look like a bridge that ran across it.

"Seems like we're not crossing here," Malcolm informed the group in the dark as he got down from his horse and inspected the dangling rope of the bridge.

"This good spot," Rocket announced, causing everyone's head to turn towards him. "Cross here," he finished.

They all turned to look at Blue Eyes who seemed hesitant for a moment and eyed the dark flowing stream. He wasn't sure about this plan but what choice did they have? With a grunt, Blue Eyes nodded to the others, letting them know to go with Rocket's plan.

Silently they all crossed into the river with their horses and eventually found the road once more. They continued their trek through the dark of the night along the dark road until most of the mud, caking the horses' hooves had come off. They eventually entered the other side of the broken span of the river and edged their mounts to go within the water's edge. Both Rocket, Malcolm and Alexander had dismounted from their horses and did their best to erase their tracks that showed up in the wet mud, leading into the river. Once that was done they all silently rode upstream, wading within the frigid cold waters.

Ray did not like the night, very few apes did. Darkness for apes usually meant missing branches and being met with hard painful falls. It also mean that predators of the night such as cougars, whom could see better than they could. A fire within the night only made it bearable for apes, keeping the hungry eyes of the dark forest away. But now they were without fire nor the strange light that both Alexander and Malcolm produced, lest they be caught by their followers within the dark. No, they had only need to rely on the light of the stars and moon in the heavens that guided their way.

It was strange to Ray, he had told Blue Eyes, Ash and Alexander about this, about his dreams of strange creatures that came for him. Ferocious strange monsters, he had recalled telling the others within the group. Blue Eyes had only seemed curious about the dreams, Ash equally as afraid like him but Alexander was quite reassuring. Telling him that they were nothing but the mind playing tricks upon oneself, something called nightmares. Ray didn't quite understand what a nightmare was but knew he did not like them. But as he looked into the dark trees around him he thought he could see black shadows moving through them. Was this what Alexander had meant when he said that the mind was only playing tricks on him?

They all traveled in the river until more than half the night was gone and they were all sagging their shoulders tiredly. When Blue Eyes was finally satisfied and felt that they were far enough, he gave the order to rest. The banks of the river where they were all at were clear of trees, covered instead with grass and weeds. Coming out of the cold stream the group had found the ruins of a house. Both Malcolm and Alexander had told the apes to wait as they quickly hopped into the deserted home, filling up the inside with their small strange light. After a moment the two humans had came back out to meet the apes.

"It's deserted but I think we can rest easy for the rest of the night," Malcolm spoke quietly.

The apes all agreed and followed the man back into the home. With that, they then decided to keep watch in pairs, with the first two being both Malcolm and Rocket. Then Alexander and Blue Eyes; finally ending with Ash and Ray.

As the barest light of the sun began to peek from afar, both Ash and Ray perked up when they noticed the horses whickering nervously. Taking this as not a good sign, Ash and Ray quickly stood up, bringing in their weapons at the ready. Ash had then poked his head outside, to get a better view of what was going on while Ray eyed the older chimp by the window.

"Hear that?" Ash asked.

"Hear. What?" Ray responded, getting off from his small perch and making his way on over to where Ash stood.

The two then eased themselves out of the house, making their way onto the grass. Beneath their feet both Ray and Ash could feel the tremblings of the earth. Was this another one of those earthquakes that Malcolm had told them about? It felt like it but to the two apes knew that it wasn't it. The ground shaking felt more like the beating of a thousand drums that did not stop, but kept going. Both Ash and Ray met each other's eyes as the drumming sounds grew louder and louder. Finally they both stared off to the side and saw what was making the ground shake.

With the rising of the sun, its light finally revealed the creatures that were creating such drumming sounds. There in the valley before them, with wooded mountains and fields of yellow dancing grass by a the small river. A wave, a wave of brown rolling towards them from across the fields.

At this time the sound had also awoken the others and both Blue Eyes and Rocket came out, looking around nervously for the source of the noise while both Malcolm and Alexander groggily stepped out into the grass.

"What… What is it?" Blue Eyes asked in a tired voice.

"Cows?" Ray replied, pointing a finger out towards the plain with Blue Eyes following his finger to see the creatures from afar.

"I don't think those are cows…" Blue Eyes gestured slowly two which Ray merely shrug.

Ash had then turned around and tapped Malcolm on the arm, causing him to look down at the white flecked chimp.

"What those?" Ash asked.

Taking in a deep breath and heaving slowly, Malcolm narrowed his eyes at the creatures before straightening his back.

"Those are bisons, a whole heard of them," he answered tiredly.

Ray had seen these creatures once before with his father. The creatures were big, maybe the biggest animals he's ever seen, with hooves like an elk, covered in thick hair, massive humped back, and finally horns. Horns that were not branching out like those of a deer or elk that they hunted, no, but curved and sharp, like knives that stuck out of their heads. Back then he had only seen about five with his father. Now though, there were so many of couldn't count them all, even if he wanted to. The creatures looking like a giant mud-slide that had come down from the side of the mountains, covering most of the open prairie. The group watched as the bisons all stampeded towards the river at full pace, the pounding of their feet so loud that it was hard to hear much else around them.

"Be still," Rocket told him, and Ray realized he had been fidgeting on the spot.

"They running. For a reason," Rocket spoke up, his eyes narrowing at the big beasts. "Wolves. Maybe bear."

Upon hearing Rocket, Blue Eyes ran his fingers over the scars forming over his ribs, not going unnoticed by Ash, Alexander and Malcolm whom all eyed one another before looking at the prince again.

"Where?" Blue Eyes asked Rocket, not noticing the worried frown that Ash was giving him.

"Around," Rocket said. "Behind. On the edges. Watching. For the weak... The small."

When he said that last, he turned his gaze right onto Ray who stared back with big green eyes.

"Very funny…" Alexander deadpanned, as he made to stand next to their smallest member - Ray.

"We have guns," Ray responded as he presented his weapon and waived it, enough to case Alex to take a step back from him.

"Hey careful with that!" The boy exclaimed.

"Yes," Rocket signed. "But. Be still. No waste."

"Yeah I agree with Rocket here. Let's not waste our bullets on something that's not attacking us," Malcolm voiced in.

As they all continued to watch the bisons stampede across the plain, Blue Eyes had curiously taken a step forward and looked around them quickly.

"Where are the horses?" Blue Eyes asked, suddenly.

Both Ash and Ray balked as they both turned to look at each other before looking about quickly, having lost track of all their horses. Soon joining with the two young apes to look for their horses and after a frantic moment they finally spotted them down by the riverside. A few ways away from them, right in the path of the oncoming bisons.

"We need to get them," Blue Eyes grunted in annoyance as he shot both Ash and Ray a disappointed look, causing them to lower their heads in shame.

Rocket however took a hold of Blue Eyes' shoulder and pointed, causing the others to follow at what he was indicating at.

There across the field and behind the bison herd, the grass rustled in several places. A lean gray form appeared, then another and another, soon disappearing again once more.

"It looks like wolves are hunting the herd," Malcolm concluded as he too now could see the forms of the wolves.

It had been a while since Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray had seen a wolf. Their fathers and many of the elders had told tales of their early years of freedom. When little ones who had strayed too fary from their mothers were often snatched by wolves, and the apes competed with the pack carnivores for game. Over the years though, the wolves seemed to have all but abandoned the forest, seeking easier prey elsewhere and leaving the apes.

Well… Now Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray finally knew where this elsewhere was and it was here, far away from their forest home and human city. These wolves did not know apes and humans, showing no fear of these two species. And now the six of them had to cover the open ground between the pack and the river to reach the horses.

"Alex and I will go first. You all catch up to us," Malcolm said aloud, with Alexander nodding in confirmation.

The apes curiously looked at each other and then back up at the two humans.

"We're faster. Trust me," Alex shot the younger apes a smile.

Before anything else could be said the two humans suddenly bolted towards the horses the apes staring in awe. It never ceases to amaze Blue Eyes, Ash and Ray, that, even though humans looked like them, they were yet still so different. Watching the two humans run the apes could see why the humans had such longer legs. It looked like both Alexander and Malcolm were sliding across the top of the grassy earth, never ceasing in their advancements as they grew smaller and smaller in the distance.

"Let's go!" Rocket barked.

And with that the four apes immediately followed after the two humans, with Blue Eyes taking the lead, pacing right behind him was Ash, then Rocket and finally Ray taking the rear.

While trying his best to run after the others, Ray kept glancing back and to the side, to see if the wolves were going after them yet, but luckily he didn't see anything. However the herd of bison were close now, a ferocious wall of brown with sharp dagger-like horns, running in, crushing the ground beneath them. The horses were now stamping and whinnying, terrified by the stampeding bison that neared them.

As Ray huffed and puffed, trying his best to catch up to the others, he had thought he heard Rocket shouting something. At first he didn't understand but then the older chimp repeated it more clearly.

"Wolf!" Rocket had shouted over the roaring of the bisons hoofbeats and mooing.

Ray looked back and his green eyes widened, now knowing what Rocket had meant. From Ray's perspective he could see three of them running right after him, spreading as they came, and closing in. It was obvious that the wolves were targeting him and at three different directions as well. The wolves were fast and Rocket was already beginning to slow down his pace. Huffing, Ray knew that they weren't going to reach Alex and Malcolm in time as the humans finally reached the horses in the distance. Either the bisons will run them over or the wolves would pull them down.

"Guys! We got the horses! Come on!" Alexander shouted from afar.

"Ray!" Blue Eyes shouted, his eyes wide.

Thinking quickly, Ray then decided to try another tactic. It was reckless but hopefully this will allow him to reach the humans and the horses faster. Taking in a deep breath, Ray quickly ducked towards the side and ran through the tall grass. This brought him closer to the predators but by cutting along through the grass he'll hopefully reach the others sooner.

Seeing what Ray was doing, Blue Eyes, Ash and Rocket quickly backed up their smallest member and followed in after him. Jumping into the tall grass as well and making a beeline towards the red haired orangutan.

Rushing through the grass, Ray had thought he heard panting behind him, causing the hair on his body to stand on end as the panting got closer. However the sudden bark from Rocket, sent relief through Ray's body as the older chimp had suddenly stood in between Ray and the wolf that was closing in on him. Glancing back, Ray could just barely see the furry tail of the wolf darting away as Rocket quickly rounded and followed him. Heaving and coughing, Ray finally reached Malcolm and Alexander, the two humans reaching out towards him and immediately threw him up upon his horse.

"Where others!?" Ray panicked as he was handed the reigns of the other horses by Alexander.

"They're coming! Stay here!" Malcolm shouted as he ran in towards the tall grass, Alex soon following in after his father.

Before long, Ray flinched as he heard the reports of gunfire that echoed all around them. As he watched hesitantly, Ray's eyes widened as he noticed the herd of bison suddenly change course due to the sound of gunfire and ran straight towards him and the horses. Everything happened so fast. He had remembered losing control of the reigns of the other horses, his own mare bolting off in one direction, causing him to drop his gun. Then one of the bisons rammed right into him and his mare, smashing his left leg in the process and causing him to howl in pain. Flipping over, Ray luckily held onto dear life as his mare galloped at full speed. Looking around wildly Ray could make out one of the other horses go down, dragged beneath the hooves of the herd of raging bisons.

Through the whole ordeal of it all, Ray had thought he heard more gunfire and shouted from his companions through the thundering rumble of a thousand hooves. As his horse galloped away from the bisons, Ray could now feel the inkling of the water's surface touching at his dangling legs as he held onto the mare while she slowed down. Huffing, Ray reached up and patted the mare's neck, thanking her for saving his life.

His momentary grace however was short lived as the bison suddenly turned again and were thundering towards him and the mare, flowing like a river of muscle and hooves. There was not time to act nor do anything, Ray could only watch as he and his horse were suddenly re-engulfed within the stampede. The only thing Ray could remember was that he had felt the hard violent shake again as he and his mare were slammed by the giants beasts, sending them carading into the waters.

While Ray was submerged within the cold of the river he tiredly look up, seeing nothing but giant shadows blinking in and out of existence above the waters. Too winded to even try to pull himself out, Ray had thought he was going to die here in the river. That was until a arm suddenly broke the water's surface and yanked him out of it. Coughing and sputtering, Ray took in one large lungful of air and was about to see who had saved him but didn't get the chance to as he and his savior was met with the skull of one of the bison. Knocking out all senses from him finally.

* * *

 **Whoo boy! 2 chapters to start off this new year aye? Hopefully you all enjoy this newest chapter. Things are slowly picking up again for everyone.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Longest chapter yet. I think...**

* * *

Heaving out a tired sigh, Caesar turned to face the sea where the winds were gently blowing in from. The morning sun was just barely up and behind him, casting tall dark shadows from the human buildings. There was little fog that covered the glittering blue sea but Caesar, as well as any other apes could see the ship in the distance.

The humans ship was small in the distance, gleaming faintly upon the horizon. Caesar himself had taken the ship's retreat as a sign of their victory, but now as he stared at it from afar, he was unsure. The object was now very far away from them, out of reach from their rocket launchers that they had taken from the humans. Letting his golden-green eyes fall down towards the shore, he could see the humans continuing to build. After their first run at the beach, Caesar himself had decided that it was best to attempt another. As now the human had fortified the beach with a wall of wire and sheet metal. He had even been informed by the scouts that they have seen the humans planting things within the sands as well. Caesar himself didn't know what those things were, but they were lots of them, and he was certain that they were dangerous for him and his apes. While in the middle of his thoughts and planning on how to save the apes from these human soldiers, Caesar had heard the oncoming approach of both Maurice and Luca.

" _Humans soldiers still down there?_ " Maurice observed, nodding towards the human fortifications down by the beach.

"More so than ever Maurice," Caesar answered the older orangutan. "More humans came from the ship. In the little boats. And they continue to build."

" _The human soldiers are planning to make their camp bigger,_ " Luca gruffed. " _Spreading out. Into the human city._ "

" _Yes,_ " Caesar answered heavily, closing his eyes.

"Caesar," Luca grunted, causing the chimpanzee to face the gorilla. " _We should attack the humans again. Push them back like last time. While these other human soldiers are in the city._ "

Caesar followed Luca's gaze, spotting a sizable group of the armed human soldiers that moved cautiously up a street in the distance. Such patrols had been more frequent as the days had gone by. Caesar himself had resisted confronting them, mainly because most of the human soldiers were far from where either his warriors or the wounded, females and children were camped.

He knew what these little parties of human groups were. Not only were they scouting but they were all waiting for a reaction from him and the apes. So that they would know where they were all getting at and possibly locate their ape sanctuary. This is why he had decided to try and misdirect the human soldiers instead. Leading them as far away from the buildings where their wounded, females and children were located at by sending out small parties. The small band of apes were ordered to attack and then quickly withdraw, leading the humans as far away as possible.

He then thought about Koba, Malcolm and his family, wondering how they were all doing during all of this. He hadn't had the time nor the expense to be able to go back and check in on them at his old home. Maurice had spoken to him about going by himself to check in on them but Caesar himself had refused the older orangutan from doing so, the streets being much too dangerous with the human soldiers patrolling them. And he couldn't risk telling any of the other apes, knowing that if they were to find out that Koba was still alive. Who knows how some of the apes will act, upon knowing this information. Many of them already blaming the bonobo for thrusting them into this senseless war from what he's seen and heard, even when he had informed them that Pope was the mastermind behind it all...

With a sigh, Caesar had only hoped that Koba wasn't giving Malcolm and his family too much trouble, knowing how he is. But he promised that he'll go get the bonobo, once he has seen the females, young ones and wounded to safety first.

Blinking, Caesar noticed a couple of dark dots moving along the side of a building - Spear, Tola and the others. That must be the first troop that were sent out today to divert the humans. And as Caesar, Luca and Maurice watched, they all heard the echoes of gunfire erupting in the distance.

…

Red huffed as he bounded across the pavement with Rex, both running down the street and glancing upwards to see Pongo looking down at them. They had all paused when they heard the start of the gunfire in the distance. Glancing to the others Red puffed out his chest and resumed towards his destination a giant building that stood tall, not too far from the building where their wounded and females were at. Red and Rex both climbed up the stairwell and quietly slid inside, onto the fourth level of the place. Once inside they waited until Pongo finally hopped in and joined the both of them.

" _Did the hiding human see us?_ " Red asked Pongo, as the chimpanzee was just about to glance out the window, where he crawled in from.

" _Yes. Human saw us,_ " Pongo answered.

"Good. Then let. Us leave," Red announced as he turned around and quickly descended the stairs.

Taking one last glance outside of the window both Pongo and Rex followed after the red-haired gorilla and exited out of the back of the building.

...

Blue Eyes waived his weapon towards the wolves, but the creatures were hard to hit, always in motion, weaving in and out of the tall grass. This had been a terrible idea, to go in after Ray but both he, Ash and Rocket couldn't just let one of their members become food to these predators and so they jumped in after the bright haired orang. Rocket yelped as a burst from Blue Eyes' gun came near the older chimp. Gaining a quick scowl from his honorary uncle, Blue Eyes shrink away slightly, realizing that if he wasn't careful, he was more dangerous to the older chimp than the wolves were. He still wasn't used to the gun as it moved when the trigger was pulled back, like it had a life of its own. Always jumping and sometimes not doing what he had wanted when he fired it.

In the middle of his thoughts a gray form streaked into the periphery of his vision. He swung towards it, but the predator danced away. Behind him, Blue Eyes could hear Rocket letting out a bark as one of the wolves ran up to the older chimpanzee and nipped at him. There was another reporting sound of gunfire and soon they were rewarded with the sound of yelping from one of the wolves.

"You guys okay!" Malcolm heaved, appearing from the tall grass along with Alexander, smoke trailing slowly from his gun barrel.

With a grunt both Blue Eyes and Rocket nodded at the two humans as they turned to watch as the wolves were retreating as one of their own was wounded. Rocket had then suddenly rose to his full height and quickly looked around frantically.

"Where Ash!? Ray!?" Rocket asked, his eyes wild and looking about.

"We left Ray with the horses! We thought Ash was with you guys!?" Alexander answered.

As they all stood there, panting, the four of them turned to look at the bison herd, sweeping across the river, with Ash, Ray and the horses nowhere in sight. While they all stood there, Rocket seemed to have perked up as the sounds of the bison as their stamped continued. Blue Eyes quickly went up to the older chimpanzee and tapped Rocket's shoulder, followed by the two humans.

" _What is it?_ " Blue Eyes had asked.

" _Do you hear? Listen,_ " Rocket signed back.

Seeing Rocket's hand-signs, Blue Eyes, Alexander and Malcolm paused but could only hear the bison and their stampeded across the river. Blue Eyes turned back to the older chimpanzee and shook his head at Rocket. Rocket blinked back once before he gestured to his own gun then pointed to his ears and finally indicated to the bison herd again. Blue Eyes then focused more as he looked to where Rocket had pointed at. Even though the bison were loud in crossing the small river, he could now make out the distinct sounds of gunfire in the distance.

"Gun sounds," Blue Eyes said quietly.

"Yes," Rocket answered, his eyes looking about again in case the wolves came back for them.

"You guys think that is Ash and Ray?" Alexander asked.

"Don't know," Blue Eyes answered, unsure.

"I just hope they're okay," Malcolm spoke up this time, turning to face both Blue Eyes and Rocket. "Sorry, we shouldn't have left Ray with the horses."

Turning back to the stampeding bison in the distance, Blue Eyes and the others could now hear the gunshots in the distance, that weren't theirs. Hearing these gunshots either meant that Ash and Ray were protecting themselves from the wolves. Or maybe it meant that there were humans around or that their attempt to lose the apes following them had failed. Whatever the situation was though, once the bison had all passed onto the other side of the river, the four of them quickly made their way there.

Rocket looked around frantically while Malcolm had looked both upstream and downstream of the river for any signs of their younger companions and if lucky, horses. Blue Eyes and Alexander however had both decided to stick together and travelled down the stream of the riverside. Soon enough Alexander had called out to them and they all quickly rushed on over to where the human teen was kneeling at.

"What did you find Alex?" Malcolm breathed haggardly.

"I… I think I found Ray's gun," Alexander spoke up as he reached down and pulled the weapon from the churned muddy ground, now broken.

As they all watched the broken gun within Alexander's hand, Rocket quickly bolted off, surprising the others. They watched as Rocket looked around frantically before the chimpanzee stopped dead in his tracks and seemed to be staring at something. Confused, Blue Eyes, Alexander and Malcolm turned to look at each other before the followed Rocket. Coming up to the chimpanzee they all now understood what had caused Rocket to stop. There in the overturned ground laid what was left of one of their horses, dead and crushed by the bison herd.

Without a word spoken between them, Rocket bolted off again, to where the horse's trampled carcass was at before he stopped and looked around, desperation set within his wide green eyes. He had then let out a series of singular calls and waited a moment for a response. But nothing came. Rocket then repeated the calls once more.

"What's he doing?" Alexander asked.

"Calling... For Ash," Blue Eyes answered in a sad voice, recognizing the parental call from Rocket.

Now understanding of what Rocket was doing, Alexander turned back to look at the older chimpanzee and hearing the desperate calls from him.

It was about a few seconds more before Malcolm left the two younger boys and made his way on over to where Rocket stood. Blue Eyes and Alexander watched as Malcolm gently placed a hand upon Rocket's shoulder and seemed to be speaking something to the bulky chimpanzee, soothing him. A moment later, Malcolm had quietly walked back to where the two youngsters stood.

"We're going downstream… Hopefully will find the others there," Malcolm informed simply.

At this both Alexander and Blue Eyes looked warily at one another before following Malcolm as he led the way.

The four of them travelled slowly and quietly before they all noticed crows circling far off in the distance. Seeing crows was often a good a sign of mixture, as it meant that there was usually a carcass or body of something dead involved. In this case the four of them worriedly glanced at each other, wondering what they were going to find once they got to where the crows were, hoping that it wasn't the bodies of their two members.

Nearing the crows, the team of four had let out a unified breath of relief as they came upon the carcass of one of the bison. Approaching it, Blue Eyes, Rocket, Alexander and Malcolm could see that the creature's intestines laid in a pile nearby, with many of the large bones still there, including the skull. Malcolm however approached the carcass and reached out to touch the dead animal's head, a look of confusion upon his features.

"This bison wasn't killed by the wolves," Malcolm said darkly.

"Humans," Rocket said slowly, causing all heads to turn towards him, noticing his face going dark.

"You're right Rocket. Humans," Malcolm answered, moving to stand back up.

"How do you guys know?" Alexander asked, not getting on how the two older members were able to get humans from all of this.

"See there? There's a bunch of the meat missing from the animal," Malcolm indicated.

"Horns. Cut off. Too," Rocket spoke up as well as he approached the carcass to look at its head.

Looking around, Blue Eyes then noticed that there were several tracks nearby that distinctly did not resemble those of apes but that of humans for sure.

"Human tracks here!" Blue Eyes announced, causing everyone to converge to where he was.

"Good find Blue Eyes. Now we know that there's definitely some humans around here," Malcolm answered before he straightened his back and looked around them. "But where?"

Blue Eyes however turned to look at his honorary uncle and could see the worry look within Rocket's eyes. Reaching over, he placed a gentle hand upon the older chimp's shoulder, causing Rocket to glance his way.

"Ash and Ray. Not here," Rocket huffed before he eyed the tracks and stood up slowly. "Humans. Went that way. We follow," he announced.

"Wait, is this a good idea?" Alexander asked to which Rocket huffed and flared his nose, turning to look at Blue Eyes who nervously looked around.

"What do you think Blue?" Malcolm asked.

Blue Eyes didn't know what to think. Sure, he was made leader by his father in this expedition to find them a new home, but he was so unsure of himself that he didn't know how to answer the others. For all he knows, Ash and Ray could be nearby, laying in the grass and suffering. But then they would hear them, right? Unless they were both unable to make any sort of noise.

Heaving out a sigh Blue Eyes couldn't help but remember when his father was speaking to his mother once, telling her about feeling something on his shoulders that wasn't there. It didn't make sense to him then and had asked his father about it, the older chimp explaining it to him, saying that it was a human expression about responsibility. To Blue Eyes back then, that word had only the most minor of relationship to him. But now, Blue Eyes fully understood what his father had meant back then, the sense of having something heavy on his shoulders that was not there.

What would his father do in this situation? Feeling a hand being placed upon his shoulder, Blue Eyes looked upwards and was met with Alexander's face, a small smile upon his lips.

"Its okay buddy, take your time," the teenager spoke quietly.

"I going." The nearly hairless chimpanzee had spoken up, causing the others to look at him, Rocket meeting Blue Eyes' gaze.

With that, Blue Eyes decided that Rocket was right, they need to find these humans and maybe, just maybe they'll find Ash and Ray as well.

"Then we follow the human trail," Blue Eyes finally said, turning to look up at both Malcolm and Alexander, both nodding in agreement.

…

Eventually as mid afternoon had set in, the fight in the south portion of the city was over; Caesar could just make out the group that was headed by both Spear and Tola, breaking into all directions.

" _Do you think they killed any human soldiers?_ " Maurice asked Caesar, to which he shrugged.

" _It doesn't matter,_ " Caesar answered. " _The human city is big, and there are not that many of them out on the patrols. Now they will only look in the wrong place for a while._ "

" _But they will eventually find us Caesar,_ " Maurice pointed out, turning to meet Caesar in the eyes. " _What then?_ "

Caesar did not answer Maurice, pausing for a moment. To him it had seemed better to stay silent than admit that he was not so sure what will happen. What if they did eventually find them? What then? Just a second more, Caesar then perked up when he had heard a sudden, strange sound, kind of like a rumbling noise within the air. Maurice and Luca heard it as well, and they began turning this way and that, searching for the source or the strange noise.

After a moment of looking about, they had all heard Luca making an alarm call, lifting his face up towards the sky.

Following Luca's gaze, Caesar narrowed his eyes, unsure of what he was seeing. Up in the sky there was a thing stream of white smoke that had come out of the ship in the distance, but instead of going straight up towards the sky, he noticed that the strange object had bent slightly leading the trail over the city. Glancing closer at the strange long piece of object in the sky, Caesar could see the thing growing longer as it rose into the sky.

A sudden realization came into Caesar and the hairs on his neck and arms stood up. The object that was flying into the air, leaving that white smoke trail, the end of it had suddenly blinked out and was beginning to fall, leaving the white stream like cloud behind it. The thing that was falling was small and dark, like a spear, heading straight towards the city. Caesar had then looked about quickly to see where the object was targeting.

And then he knew.

"The females!" Caesar snarled, turning to look around him at the others. "The children! The wounded! Cornelia!"

Not too long after those words had escaped his mouth did Caesar and the others watch with horror as the spear like object hit a building, turning it into light and then pillars of smoke and fire. At first there was no sound and all was silent, but then it reached them, a thunder like noise that no storm has ever made.

…

Huffing and puffing, Koba raced through the empty flaming streets within the dark of the night. His good eye wildly looking about, seeing bodies upon bodies of both apes and humans that were strewn about, all mortifying to look at. He however knew that whatever those bodies were, of the apes form the colony, were now beyond saving. But he needed to continue, continue onward and find the others whom are still alive.

Approaching an intersection within the human city, Koba quickly looked around himself, to pinpoint where he was at. Glancing towards his left, Koba could now make out the giant human tower that was now leaning slightly in the distance. That was where he needed to go. With his destination in his sights, Koba huffed as he propelled himself forward and quadruped as fast as his limbs will carry him up the street towards the human tower.

As he reached the base of the tower, Koba stopped dead in his tracks, eyes going wide at what he saw. All laying about were the bodies of many of the apes from the colony, the old, the sick, the wounded, the females and even their children. All laying about, lifeless, with their glassy faded eyes opened staring off in various directions. Breath hitching, Koba slowly made his way through them, turning his head to and fro, meeting all of the glassy gaze of the apes whom he had come to known as part of his family. Heart pounding within his chest and ears, Koba desperately moved about to see if there were any apes that was still alive. Standing up on his feet, Koba reared back and let out a call into the dark of the night. But he was only met with silence and the crackling of the dancing flames around him.

Huffing and puffing, Koba was just about to let out another call once more but stopped when he noticed a figure at the top of the steps that lead into the human tower. From his vantage point he didn't know if it was human or ape but he cautiously approached the figure nonetheless. As he neared it, Koba could tell that the figure, whose back was turned towards him, was that of an ape, who seemed to be slumped over a few forms on the ground. Blinking, Koba tilted his head as he thought he could recognize the forms. Nearing them though, Koba's eyes widened when he saw that the forms belong to that of Cornelia, his honorary sister and her two children, Blue Eyes and Cornelius, all seemingly lifeless, with their glassy eyes staring up into the dark heavens above.

"You killed us," a voice spoke up.

Upon hearing the voice, Koba froze and turned his sight onto the back of the slumping ape who was turned away from him. Huffing to himself, heart pounding within his chest, Koba approached the other ape, now recognizing the form.

"C-Caesar?" Koba breathed hesitantly.

When the ape didn't respond, Koba walked closer to the other chimpanzee and slowly reached out. The moment he placed his hand upon the other ape's shoulder, the figure suddenly turned around and slammed into him, knocking him off of his feet and onto his back. Grunting, Koba was just about to get up but was stopped as a heavy body landed on top of him, preventing him from doing so. Koba snarled, turning to look up and see who it was, but gasped and bit back a scream.

There staring back at him was Caesar, except it wasn't Caesar. The thing that was on top of him had Cesar's face but its eyes, it's eyes were lifeless, distant and glassy. Its body had many bullet holes embedded within it and a large open wound that revealed the innards within. Scared for his life, Koba tried to free himself but the creature on top of him tightened its grip onto his arms, painfully so, enough to cause him to cry out in pain.

"You did this! You killed all apes! Killed me!" the thing that was Caesar but not Caesar yelled into Koba's face, it's rancid breath filling his nostrils and burning his eyes.

"N-no! I-I… Koba did not do this!" Koba panicked as he tried to free his arms from the thing. "I-I…"

"But… Koba did…" the creature on top of Koba spoke, in a terribly sad voice, sounding very familiar.

Upon hearing this, Koba froze up and turned his gaze back onto the creature his brows furrowing.

Koba then felt a few warm droplets hitting his face and he could now see the sorrowful face of his Caesar looking back down at him, shedding tears, even if it was damaged.

"Caesar?" Koba whimpered out.

"Why did Koba do this?" Caesar sobbed.

"Koba does not know. Koba is sorry," Koba answered, his own eyes becoming wet.

The dead ape then suddenly however pant-laughed, dark oozing blood flinging from its mouth and landing onto Koba's face, shocking him.

"Sure, Koba is sorry," it gurgled. "Koba did this. Koba killed. Everyone," the creature that looked like Caesar answered, leaning down to look Koba in the eyes with its glassy ones. "Join me…"

The moment the thing finished what it was saying, a part of the creature's face slowly slid off with a wet slurp, revealing another face. Instead of Caesar's, Koba saw fishnet scars that ran over the left side of the dead chimpanzee's face as it bared its fangs down at him in a menacing grin.

"Pope!?"

"Koba…" Pope answered softly, lowering his face until his forehead touched Koba's.

At this Koba struggled harder within Pope's grasp, but the chimpanzee held strong.

"No! No!" Koba shouted, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Yes. Stay here. With me," Pope's voice whispered into Koba's ear. "Forever…"

"No!" Koba roared.

"Wake up!" a voice called out.

"No!" Koba shouted back.

"You need to wake up!" The familiar voice repeated.

"Leave Koba alone!" Koba whimpered.

"Koba! Please wake up!" The voice spoke louder this time, strong and gentle.

With a gasp, Koba's eyes shot open and gasped for air, eyes looking around wildly to see where he was. When he felt hands touching his arms he immediately pulled his limbs closer towards his body, shrinking away at whoever was touching him.

"Koba please! Be calm" a gentle voice spoke aloud.

Blinking, Koba turned his head towards the right and could see the human nurse - Ellie staring worriedly at him.

"Caesar? A-apes..." Koba panted, pushing himself into a sitting position and looking about.

"It's okay Koba. You are safe now. It was just a bad dream," Ellie spoke gently, reaching out and placing a hand upon Koba's shoulder, causing him to snap his head at her.

Koba huffed and puffed a few moments more before the hair on his body started to lower themselves and his breathing slowed down. Seeing this, Ellie had let out a relieved breath and pulled away from the frightened bonobo. It had frightened her when she had started to hear screaming all the way from the back room, thinking that Koba was being attacked by soldiers that probably had found them. Thankfully it was only a nightmare and Ellie had woken the thrashing bonobo up from whatever terrible dream he was having.

As they both sat there in silence, Koba closed his eyes tightly and tried to push away that horrible image of a very dead Caesar looking at him. Who had then morphed into Pope. He's never had these kinds of dreams before and it frightened him. Huffing quietly to himself, Koba had then reached upwards and grabbed at his head with his hands, pressing the ends of his nails into his scalp in hopes to rip those terrifying images from his memory.

Panting quietly in his sorrow and fear, Koba then felt a hand placing itself upon his shoulder, causing him to turn and face Ellie, her face full of concern.

"A-Apes all dead… C-Caesar… Caesar dead. M-my fault," Koba whimpered, his eyes wide with tears falling from them.

Unexpectedly Koba was quickly embraced by Ellie, who rubbed her hand gently down his back, careful to not irritate the large scar that was there.

"It's going to be okay Koba. It's just a bad dream," Ellie reassured soothingly to the scarred bonobo.

Koba froze up for a moment as he was being held by the woman, not sure of what to do. Slowly though he wrapped his arms around Ellie and buried his head into her, allowing his tears to fall as his body shook.

"There, there," Ellie continued as she held onto the sobbing bonobo, not giving a care in the world that her shirt was becoming wet from the ape's tears.

All that mattered to Ellie now was to take care of her charge and that was what she was going to do.

While the both of them had sat there in the silence, they had not expected to see a brief flash in the distance. Separating from each other to glance outside and then each other momentarily. Koba and Ellie did not expect the sounds of a very loud explosion reaching them. Causing the both of them to scream and cover their ears as they were both met with the awful noise that was loud enough to shake the whole house as well.

…

The traveling group was following the trail of hooves that were left behind by the humans. While trailing after the two chimpanzees in front of them, Alexander and his father couldn't help but look at each other in worry. Both Blue Eyes and Rocket had become quieter than usual when finding out that they were missing Ash, Ray and their horses. All that was left on each and every one of them were the guns they all carried and whatever small bags of morsels they had.

Knuckle-walking slowly Blue Eyes glanced on over to where Rocket was slowly pacing himself, noticing that the older ape had been quieter than usual. Not that Rocket had ever been the most communicative of the older apes, but he seemed and looked so lost, green eyes staring into the distance and head perking up when he had thought he had heard a sound, only to lower his head once more in silence. Blue Eyes was worried Ash and Ray too but he couldn't put in perspective of what Rocket was feeling. This was the third time that Ash had disappeared on Rocket or was injured by something. The first was of course when they had first seen the humans in the forest of their home, second was where Ash was almost thrown off the balcony and now Ash was gone and the older chimp couldn't help but feel lost because of it. Suddenly Blue Eye looked past Rocket as both Malcolm and Alexander caught up with them.

"Hey," Malcolm spoke up, causing the two apes to look at him. "Ash and Ray are okay. Probably just lost," he finished.

Rocket had stopped in his tracks, causing the rest of them to stop as well and look at him. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before he brought his hands up.

" _Maybe,_ " he signed, breathing deeply.

"Hey look," Malcolm spoke up, walking up to the nearly hairless chimpanzee and reaching out a hand, placing it onto Rocket's should. "Don't beat yourself over it. This wasn't your fault or anyone else's."

"They could be. Dead!" Rocket shot back, shrugging Malcolm's hand off of him and baring his fangs. "I am Ash. Father," he growled. "I… I did not. Protect… My son… Am bad. Father..."

As Rocket deflated his shoulders and lowered his face he felt someone walking up to him and touch his shoulder, causing him to turn and see who it was.

" _I miss Ash, too,_ " Blue Eyes signed, huffing slightly.

Seeing Blue Eyes sign this, Rocket lowered his head so that his eyes could no longer be seen.

"You're not a bad father," Alexander spoke up, walking on over to where both Rocket and Blue Eyes stood. "I've seen how you've been protective of the other apes. You are not a bad father Rocket. But there was nothing we could do at the time," he consoled.

" _Ash,_ " Rocket signed before lifting his head up to meet everyone, his eyes wet. "So little. When he. Was born. Could hold him. In one. Hand. Like you," Rocket said mournfully, turning to look at Blue Eyes.

Upon hearing this, Blue Eyes could feel his throat clutch when Rocket turned to look at him. Huffing, Blue Eyes shook his head and quickly embraced his uncle as his tears finally fell from his own eyes. The two stayed like that for a moment before Malcolm took in a deep breath and turned his attention towards the sun. He then glanced back at both Rocket, Blue Eyes and Alexander before making his way on over towards them.

"I believe Ash and Ray are still alive," he said slowly, causing the two apes to look up at him.

"What makes you say that dad?" Alexander asked.

"Just call it a father's intuition," Malcolm answered back, turning to look around them. "We haven't found a single body yet and this horse trail is still fresh. So I'm betting that our two members are with these people and we," Malcolm stopped to met both Rocket and Blue Eyes' gaze, "are going to do whatever we can. To get them back," he finished.

…

Rousing from unconsciousness, Ray winced as he breathed, each breath into his lungs had hurt, and each exhale felt like it was his last. He knew that he was awake now but for some reason he couldn't see anything.

Confused for a moment, Ray tried to recall what had happened to him and could vaguely remember the brown cows, no bison, Malcolm had called them. With that the memories of the wolves dashing through the tall grass, the wild gallops of the horses in the canyon of the horned bisons, the fall into the river, the dark figure that saved him and then the decent back into oblivion. With everything coming back to him, light started to pop up within his vision again and all of the pain as well, causing him to groan quietly.

Ray felt himself in motion, a familiar one at that. Breathing quietly, he could feel the gait of a horse underneath him. Did someone find him and put him onto one of the horses? Realizing that he was laying belly down upon the horse, Ray grunted and cracked open an eye, seeing the ground, covered in fern and leaves, passing him by. Oh good, Blue Eyes, Rocket, Ash and the others had found him, put him back onto one of the horses and continued on their journey.

That was a relief for Ray. Now, all he had to do was let them know that he was okay, and everything will go back to the way they were. Hopefully without getting a good scolding from Rocket. Those were never fun…

As he made to move, Ray realized that his wrists were tied together. That's odd. He then tried to move his legs and noticed that his ankles were tied as well, connected by a long rope that were tied to his hands, tightly beneath the belly of the horse that he laid upon.

That wasn't right. Trying to raise his head, Ray winced as he felt his neck hurt, like it was on fire. However, as small as his head had lifted, it gave him enough vision to see that there were several more horses in front of him, including the one that he was riding. But then he noticed whoever was mounted on the nearest horse to him wore boots that did not belong to Malcolm nor Alex.

"I think it's awake," a high pitch voice spoke up, causing Ray's eyes to widen and the hair on the back of his neck to stand.

"He," another voice corrected the first.

Ray noticed that the second voice was lower than the human who had spoken up first. A bit of a chesty rasp to it, reminding Ray of a gorilla of sorts.

"He's a male," the second human finished.

"Who cares, it's a monkey. What does it matter?" the first human spoke up, causing Ray's breath to quicken slightly.

"He's actually not a monkey," a third voice spoke up, correcting the first human this time.

From what Ray could tell this third voice had a nice sweet tune to it, almost musical in a way.

"He's an ape. An orangutan actually. There's a difference. Like that one over there. He's a chimpanzee," the third voice finished, causing Ray's eyes to go wide.

Who else was caught with him? Blue Eyes!? Rocket!? Ash!? If they were how come they were so quiet? Then again, they must have been knocked unconscious too. Or worst…

"Ah, whatever. I don't still see how it matters whether they're boys or girls. They're just going to burn them when we get back into town," the human with the high-pitched voice said aloud, causing Ray to heave out a relieved breath, as she practically confirmed to him that the other ape was not dead.

"They're not going burn them, Feliz. They're harmless," the third song like voice replied. "Besides, would you like it if someone didn't care if you were a boy or girl?"

"Ha! If someone were ever so bold I'll give them a thing or two before even making that wrong statement… But aside from that, Gram used to tell me the monkeys were hiding out in the dark, ready to snatch my soul," the first voice named Feliz answered back.

"Your Gram had a wild imagination and you were a difficult child, still are actually," the third voice countered with a chuckle to its voice.

Ray had thought he heard a "harrumphed" sound coming from this Feliz but wasn't sure. And had thought he heard a small "I'm not a child," which prompted the other two humans to chuckle softly around him.

"Hrm… Have to admit though. I was picturing something a lot scarier from this one. He just looks like a big, red, hairy, ugly baby. The other one on the other hand..." the voice belonging to Feliz spoke up.

"That's the one awake is it?" the third voice spoke up again. "Hang on. Let's see him."

Ray felt the horses coming to a stop. He then saw a pair of booted feet landing a few distances away from him, onto the ground. A few heavy heartbeats later, a face slowly appeared into his vision, causing him to hold his breath. The face belonged to a human of course, with light brown skin and dark calming eyes. The long hair on the human's head was equal parts in black and silver, tied back so that it looked like that the tail of a horse.

"Hello there, little fellow," the human greeted with a warming smile. "I'm Carla. And who are you?"

Seeing the warm inviting face of this Carla, Ray had to think for a moment, unsure if he should trust her or not. But she looked nice enough, seeming to give the same type of air much like Malcolm and Alexander did. So, he tried to sign a " _hello,_ " but of course he couldn't, with his wrists tied together.

"You… Don't think he understands you, do you?" the voice belonging to Feliz spoke up, to which Ray could still not see as he tried to crane his head around.

"Well, he might," Carla replied, straightening herself back up and turning to face this Feliz. "He didn't get here from Borneo, you know. And that one over there, he didn't get here from the dense tropical forests of Africa. They must have escaped from a zoo, or something. Or perhaps both of their parents did - they both don't look too old. Must mean that there's a breeding population around here somewhere."

"Are you saying that those two have the same parents?" this Feliz asked.

"Oh dear no," Carla laughed merrily. "I don't think chimpanzees and orangutans can interbreed like that. Not that I'm aware of anyways."

"First two I've ever seen around these parts of the area," the second voice spoke up again. "And I've been coming up this way to hunt for about four to five years now."

"This far up north?" Carla asked.

"Hrm… Not quite, I guess," the second gruff voice replied. "Always have to go a little farther up north every single year."

There was a pause.

"Anyways, Feliz has got a point, though. Ain't these things supposed to spread the plague and the like?" the second voice finished.

"Oh Jack, the plague has long been gone," Carla answered calmly.

"You know that for sure?" Jack asked.

"Yes, it's gone," Carla answered.

Ray then felt this human - Carla reaching out towards him, stroking her hand down his hair. He had tried to shy away from her but there was only so much he could move. Besides, it didn't feel bad and Carla was very gentle.

"Well, what are we gonna do with them?" Feliz piped up.

"I'm not sure," Carla answered turning to meet Ray's eyes with her dark brown ones. "It's not everyday that you come across and orangutan and a chimpanzee together. Both knocked unconscious within the mud. It would be a shame to not pick them up, for all kinds of reasons," Carla finished, returning her smile upon her face as she looked down at Ray.

"Yeah, probably good eatin," Jack said aloud.

"Ah, gross. They look too much like people to eat," Feliz said aloud.

"Jack…" Carla reprimanded, turning away from Ray and facing the other human.

"What? There's some people that eat other people," Jack defended himself.

"Well, I'm not one of'em. And hopefully you too… Anyways, there's not much meat to him, is there? That red one? The other one on the other hand," Feliz trailed off.

"That depends on how hungry you are," Carla replied with a sigh. "Besides, these two are definitely off limits. No one is touching them. As long as I'm around," Carla spoke up.

"Well, you should get back on your horse, Carla. I know I heard somebody else shooting back there before them buffalo stampede all over the place. And those four horses we have here, definitely belonged to somebody. Whoever it was though, I don't fancy running into them anytime soon. Especially with just one rifle between the three of us. It's dangerous enough out here as it is," Jack warned.

"Alright, Jack," Carla replied and was about to turn and leave before stopping in her tracks, turning back around to look at Ray. "Think we should make him more comfortable?"

"He'll be fine until we get back to camp. In the meantime, let's just hurry outta here," Jack answered.

As the sun was slowly going down with the sky, the group of humans that Ray and whoever else was with him were with finally reached their supposed camp. Eventually Ray was finally taken down from the horse, but his bindings weren't cut to free him. Instead the three humans tied him to a post near one of the house that lined up the place.

At last he finally got to see his other captors. Based on this Jack's voice, Ray had pictured the human man to be big, sort of like their gorillas, but he was more like an orangutan. The man didn't have much hair on his head, but he did have big long arms and a wide mouth. Feliz is probably the youngest of the group, probably no older than Alexander. Her hair are the colors of the golden daisy flowers that Ray would often see, falling to just slightly past her ears. She also wore a funny looking blue outfit that covered most of her body, held onto her shoulders by straps, and a black garment underneath that left most of her arms bare. It also looks like she was the one that was carrying the rifle between all of them too. The other two held bows within their hands.

After watching Feliz tying him to the post, Ray perked up when Jack grunted along with Carla as they lifted another body off of one of the horses and set it onto the ground with a plop.

"We've got to be gentle with this one. He's wounded remember," Carla spoke up.

"This one is pretty heavy Carla. I think he can take a small fall," Jack answered.

Carla and Jack then gently dragged the body on over towards the other post just out of reach from Ray. As the other ape came into view, Ray gasped quietly to himself when he saw that it was Ash, both his arms and legs tied as well, just like him. Ray then noticed what looked like a bandage wrapped around Ash's head and one around his right arm. Once the two humans had finished with tying Ash to the second post they took a step back away.

With that between them, Ray quietly watched as the humans had left both he and Ash, making their way towards some tables nearby. With a huff, Ray quickly turned his head and tried to approach Ash's body with as much as the rope would allow his body to go. From what Ray could see, Ash was still very much unconscious with that bandaged around his head. What had caused Ash to receive such a wound though? Ray wondered to himself. Then it dawned on him. The moment when he had seen that shadowy figure reaching into the river and pulling him out of it. Was that Ash? It then would make sense how the chimpanzee had received such a head wound and he couldn't help but huff sadly at the thought as he looked down at Ash's unconscious form.

Ash had saved him.

Frowning to himself, Ray turned his head to watch as Jack, Carla and Feliz all got busy around the tables. Ray noticed that aside from their five horses, they had also two of their own as well. Two of their horses though were loaded with strange brown leathery bags. When they unloaded the contents from the bags however, Ray could see chunks of meat spill out, which were brought on over to the flat wooden tables before being cut down. He observed with curiosity as Carla and Feliz placing them into boxes of what looked like white little sand a few others they placed away and the rest of the smaller ones were skewered with sticks and placed over a fire.

"Strange you know?" Carla suddenly spoke up as she continued to cut at the meat.

"What is it?" Feliz asked as she chopped away.

"Normally orangutans are solitary creatures. Usually sticking to their own. But that one over there? We found him along with that wounded chimpanzee. Kind of interesting don't you think?" Carla asked.

"What, like they're traveling companions or something? A chimp and orangutan?" Jack said aloud in a amused voice.

"Could it be possible?" Feliz asked, turning to look at Carla.

"Who knows. But that's life isn't it? Just full of wonders and mystery," Carla replied with a smile.

"Bah! All life's ever given me were a bunch of headaches," Jack said aloud before letting out a hearty laugh that was soon joined in by the other two.

As the humans continued talking to each other, Ray noticed movement to his right, causing him to turn his head quickly. He watched with anticipation before his heart leaped up into his throat and a smile engulfed his face as Ash slowly rose from unconsciousness. The older chimp moved and frozed momentarily, seeming to tense up in pain before he continued to pull himself up into a sitting position. Ray could then see Ash shaking his head slightly to get rid of the drowsiness before the chimp looked down at his bindings and that rope that connected him to the wooden post. Ray watched as Ash curiously tugged at his bindings before he slowly glanced around, his big green eyes stopping upon the humans and the hair on his body standing on end. The chimpanzee glanced in Ray's direction and then met his eyes, calming slightly when he was sighted, probably reassured to see a familiar face. Ash was about to open his mouth and say something but Ray quickly shook his head in alarm.

"Hey look! The other ones now awake!" Feliz announced, causing both of the apes to freeze, as she got up from her spot and walked towards them. "How's your head?" Feliz asked as she stopped by Ash who shied away from her.

The girl did not look amused before heaving out a sigh and turned to look at both of them.

"You both want something to eat?" Feliz asked, wiping the back of her bloody arm across her brow while she spoke.

Ray did. He hadn't eaten since the day before and his stomach was rumbling. But he knew that he shouldn't answer this Feliz. Ash however panted and nodded at her, causing Ray's eyes to widen in alarm.

Feliz's smile instantly vanished from her face when she saw Ash nodding, her jaw dropped open.

"Did you guys see that?" Feliz said in a shocked voice.

"See what Feliz?" Carla asked from the cutting table.

"That one nodded to my question. The dark haired monkey with the white freckles," Feliz stated, pointing a bloody finger at Ash, whom was now nervously looking back up at her.

"Wait, stop the presses!" Jack paused, waving his arms into the air. "Ask him what the square root of sixteen is."

"What are presses?" Feliz asked.

Jack however bellowed out in laughter before going back to working at cutting down the meat on the table. Feliz on the other hand narrowed her eyes and turned back around to glare at Ash, who shrunk back a little further away from her. Her eyes then wandered on over to where Ray was, causing him to shy a bit away from her as well before she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, turned around and went back to the wooden tables. Feliz took two thin strips of meat from the table and walked on over towards Ash first.

"Open up you," Feliz said and Ash did what she asked, by opening his mouth. "Damn, see! He understands me!" Feliz pointed out.

"Feliz! Do not swear," Carla called on over from her spot by the cooking fire. "I told you. Apes are smart. Of course, he knows when you're going to feed him," she finished.

Feliz made a sour looking face before turning back to look down at Ash and offered him one of the strips of meat in her hand. She then walked on over to where Ray sat and gave him the other one.

"I'm onto you. The both of you," Feliz said slowly, narrowing her eyes and pointing her finger to both of the apes who simply stared back at her while slowly chewing at the raw meat that was given to them.

Taking a deep breath, Feliz straightened herself out and looked down at them once more.

"Can you two understand me or not? She asked curiously. "Blink your eyes if you understand me."

Both Ray and Ash however merely made chewing motions with their mouth and stared up at the girl, Ash even tilting his head at her, causing Feliz's demeanor to soften a little at the display.

"That's not fair," Feliz frowned at Ash who then tilted his head the other way at her while still chewing the piece of raw meat within his mouth.

"What's not fair Feliz?" Carla asked as she came to stand next to her.

Carla then looked to where Feliz was staring at Ash and the woman beamed down at the chimp before looking back to her companion.

"Now ain't he adorable looking. Well, the both of them are," Carla finished as she turned to look at Ray as well who shied away from her smiling face.

Watching the two apes simply stare back at her, the bottom portion of her eyes twitched and immediately Feliz made a disparaging sound.

"I still don't' know what we're going to do with the both of them," Feliz said aloud while throwing her arms up into the air, to which Carla simply turned her head to look at her.

"I remember years ago, those guys in Diablo put out the word that they were looking for some apes," Jack announced as he went on over to wash his hands.

"And willing to pay," Carla snorted. "Disgusting, that lot. That was nearly ten years ago, when they were all still looking for the cure to the Simian Flu. I'd doubt you'd get any takers these days," she finished with a wave of her hand, shaking her head all the while.

"What if they try to kill them?" Feliz asked, turning to look at both Jack and Carla. "Back in town? Or take them from us? We may not be afraid of these monke-of these apes, but a lot of people still are," she said aloud.

"Well… I guess we'll just see when we get there, hrm?" Jack hummed as he rubbed the bottom of his chin and looked up at the afternoon sky. "Until then, there's no use worrying about it now," he finished.

Ash and Ray however were not amused when they had heard that there was a high possibility of being killed, causing the both of them to glance at each other's way momentarily during the exchange between Jack, Carla and Feliz.

When night finally fell upon the camp, Ash and Ray tried to work at their bindings, but they couldn't get them loose, no matter how hard they tried. Ash was still too weak to properly tug off the rope and the bindings were too intricate for Ray to work at. So instead the two sat there in the dark, unable to sign to each other and glancing over at the sleeping humans by the campfire.

While sitting there, scratching at his post, Ray perked up when he had thought he had heard a voice and glanced back around to look at the humans, only seeing them sleeping soundlessly. Curiously, Ray went back to scratching at his wooden post when he heard the voice again and knew that someone was speaking to him. He then turned around to look at Ash and saw the chimpanzee's dark form.

"Ray?" Ash's voice could barely be heard.

"Ash," Ray responded just as quiet.

"Who humans? What do?" Ash asked.

"Don't know," Ray answered sadly. "Are. You. Okay?"

The both of them paused momentarily when they heard a groan and turned to see one of the humans moving in their sleep before settling back into slumber.

" _We. Have to. Be quiet,"_ Ray signed limitedly so that Ash could see him, seeing Ash's shadowy head nodding back at him in confirmation.

Ray huffed out in relief before he perked up again.

" _Are you okay Ash?_ " Ray signed worriedly.

Ray could see Ash looking about himself for a moment before he nodded back.

" _I'm sorry,_ " Ray gestured, hoping Ash could see his sincere apology.

Ray could then see Ash's shoulder shaking before the chimpanzee shook his head and waved a hand in the air. A gesture that meant that it was nothing. Seeing this, Ray couldn't help but smile in return at Ash. Of course Ash would be the one to say that it was nothing, especially when it comes to helping another ape.

" _What do we do Ray?_ " Ash signed in the darkness. " _I can't get loose._ "

" _Me too… But I have an idea,_ " Ray signed back as he turned to look back at the post he was tied to.

* * *

 **Oh boy! So many things going on in this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this newest chapter as much as I had fun writing it.**

 **But I gotta introduce the new human characters from Revelations to you guys and gals. So here it goes.**

 **Jack** \- a hearty hefty fellow of the new group of humans.

 **Carla** \- The nice one from the group of humans.

 **Feliz** \- The hardheaded sharpshooter gal from the group of humans.

 **In other news. Happy Readings everybody and I hope to see you all again in the next chapter.**


	27. Chapter 27

Standing watch within the confines of the building, Winter nervously looked about at all the apes that were present there. A lot of their wounded were being attended to by the females while he and the rest of the gorillas stood guard by several entry points to the building. Heaving slightly, Winter had let his eyes wander towards his right and could see Ajax, standing tall several feet away from him, keeping a stoic lookout upon the apes. Huffing, quietly to himself, Winter wished that he himself could be as brave as Ajax sometimes. If he weren't such a coward then maybe…

While in the midst of his thoughts, Winter had froze up when he heard a strange sound that came from all directions. A strange whistling sound, something he had never heard before. As the noise got louder and louder, he and the rest of the other apes began to panic while looking around themselves. Suddenly, Winter had to reach up and cover his ears and couldn't help himself as he roared along with the other apes as a thundering sound boomed all around them.

Then something invisible and incredibly violent struck Winter in the head, chest, arms and legs, from every single direction. Sending him careening across from his spot and into a wall, before finally falling onto the hard ground with a thud. Lying there,winded, Winter slowly pulled himself up and looked about, trying to rid himself of his disorientated state. As he looked on, everything was blurry and the sound around him was muffled. He could feel heat, lots of it, and it burned at his throat everytime he took a breath.

Slowly his senses came back to him and Winter could now hear the frantic screams and cries of apes all around him. Following the wails and cries of alarm from the other apes, Winter made his way towards the entryway and stared out of it to see what had happened to have caused such a violent invisible storm.

Huffing, Winter peeked over the other apes in front of him and could see that they were all hooting and screeching as they pointed and looked across the street. Whatever the storm was, it had ripped the other building open, leaving streams of billowing black smoke that rose from the fire within it. Having lost his sense of touch and hearing during the explosion, Winter stumbled forward and leaned heavily on a wall for support, now since that the impact has passed through him. Shaking his head side to side, Winter felt like he was going to vomit out his innards. He had seen fire and smoke before, like he had seen it when their home was burned down but this? This was nothing like he's ever seen, experienced nor imagined, and it frightened him.

Still disoriented, Winter suddenly saw a flash of red and then something caught his arm, yanking him backwards, through the open door that he was standing in. He grunted as he watched with wide green eyes as burning objects had struck the spot where he was at, just mere moments earlier. Falling down onto the hard ground with a slump, Winter watched as other apes, mostly the females and healers with children, scrambling away from the burning debris. Looking about, Winter could see Ajax putting himself between a young chimp and the billowing smoke that was flowing towards them, like a dark burning stormcloud. Winter blinked as he saw Ajax stumble slightly when something fell and struck him on the backside but the older gorilla roared and kept the apes under his care moving.

Before long, Winter found himself engulfed in a sea of confused limbs from other apes, all trying to get away from the smoke and fire. When he had managed to finally free himself and had taken a step to the side, Winter huffed and turned to look around, surprised to see Red there. Was Red the one who had pulled him out of harm's way? The red haired gorilla had then coughed and sneezed as he wiped away at his dust covered face.

" _What's going on?_ " Winter signed towards the other gorilla, fingers shaking in terror. " _What happened?_ "

" _It's the humans,_ " Red signed back with a growl before glaring outside. " _Some kind of weapon._ "

Red then held out a hand towards Winter who looked at it fearfully before meeting Red's acid colored eyes once more.

" _Hurry! Help the females with the children,_ " Red signed at Winter.

Winter huffed and looked all around him. Everything, the building that they had, had protected them, housed them were now all thrown into chaos; with everyone scrambling away, climbing up the walls to the balconies. Then Winter just realized that if whatever had struck the other building had hit here instead, they would all be dead. And it could still happen to that chilling fact in mind, Winter froze there on the spot.

"Come on!" Red barked this time at Winter, tugging on him but the white haired gorilla would not budge.

Winter couldn't move, wracked by fear; he rolled so that his face was against the wall, and began rocking back and forth, sobbing all the while.

However long he was like that, he didn't know, nor did he care as he cried in on himself at what all has been happened around him. Eventually though, someone slid down next to him and took his face into their hands.

"No! No!" Winter whimpered, trying to shake his head away from whomever it was that was trying to grab his attention.

Through his crying, a familiar voice slowly became louder, speaking softly, kindly, bringing him out of his fear.

"Winter!? Winter!? Open eyes! Please," the familiar voice said.

With a huff, Winter finally cracked one eye open and was met with a familiar looking face, who had a look of worry on it.

"G-glade?" Winter sniveled, finally opening his wet eyes wide, staring into Glade's bright green ones.

Upon hearing his name being said by Winter, Glade couldn't help but smile warmly at him before reaching down and wrapping his arms gently around the white haired gorilla's neck.

"It okay, Winter. Glade here. Winter safe now."

Upon hearing this, Winter immediately wrapped his arms around the smaller bonobo and wept into his shoulder, with Glade gently patting his back reassuringly. Just because he was a gorilla and is in the Gorilla Guard, everyone expects him to protect them. Even if he did though, what about gorillas like him? What happens when they need protecting? There was no one to look out for him except… Except Ajax and… Glade, who was hugging him now and cooing softly to calm him down. Winter himself had never really thought about it before as he held Glade close to him. Right here, right now among all the chaos. Glade holding onto him, cooing softly at him. Made him feel safe and happy.

Before long the two apes heard heavy footsteps approaching them. Turning to see who it was, both Glade and Winter were surprised to see Luca standing over them.

"You two! Stand up!" the older gorilla bellowed over the loud cries and screeches from the other apes.

Upon hearing Luca yell at them, Winter hesitated and almost turned back to face the safety of the wall again, but a firm grip from Glade's hand, held him there. The bonobo slowly stood up and pulled Winter along with him, to stand by his side.

As they both stood back up both Winter and Glade saw Caesar arriving with Maurice, both making their way through the sea of limbs. Hearing a grunt, Glade and Winter turned their attention back towards Luca who was looking at them.

" _Protect the females, children and wounded,_ " Luca ordered.

Luca watched as Glade huffed up at him and nodded whilst Winter shamefully turned his head away for a moment but upon seeing Glade, turned back to meet the older gorilla in the eyes. Reaching out, Luca placed a reassuring hand upon Winter's shoulder, before he nodded with a gruff, turned around to go assist the apes around them.

"Come Winter. We go help," Glade spoke up, tugging gently on Winter's hand, leading him away.

…

In the ensuing chaos after the explosion, Cornelia, Tinker and a few others had placed themselves at the very back end of the building that they were in, with her maidens forming a protective circle around her. Still distraught from the sudden blast, Cornelia cradled Cornelius close to her bosom as she looked around frantically to see if there were any other danger as apes all ran around them. While panting and looking for any signs of danger, Cornelia saw an ape approaching them, one with a shooting star birthmark on his chest, accompanied with golden green eyes. Letting out a small hoot, Cornelia bursted forward and threw herself upon her mate.

"Caesar. Oh Caesar," Cornelia huffed as she held onto her husband tightly, tears falling from her eyes.

"Oh Cornelia," Caesar breathed into the crook of his wife's neck as he held her hard, relief flowing through his tight body.

" _Caesar. What happened? Where did the sun go?_ " Cornelia asked as she pulled back wiping away at her tears.

"Human weapon. It missed you. Hit the wrong building," Caesar answered back.

" _Missed us?_ " Cornelia signed, turning to look out at the fire in the street before looking back at her mate. " _What do you mean Caesar?_ "

Before Caesar could answer his mate's question, he suddenly felt a tug on his arm, something small. Glancing down, Caesar smiled happily as he watched his youngest son trying to push between both he and Cornelia. Reaching out, Caesar lifted his little Cornelius up and hugged him tightly into his chest. The little ape however merely laughed at his father, not having the care of the world at what just happened around him, just excited and happy to see him.

Once he had embraced his son, Caesar gave Cornelia his full attention once more, his face going grim.

"Humans were aiming apes. Don't know how but they were close," Caesar growled as he looked about.

"What. Do we. Do?" Cornelia asked, reaching out to accept their son as Caesar gave him back to her.

"We must leave here," Caesar answered simply.

"Yes. We should never. Have come here," Cornelia wheezed out, coughing a little to which Caesar quickly held onto her shoulders.

Once Cornelia's coughing fit had subsided, she slowly look up and met Caesar's golden-green eyes, his face sincere and apologetic.

"I… Thought I could protect you," started slowly before shaking his head. "I was wrong. You and the rest of females, healers and children. Will go back to the forest."

" _Caesar, we should all go back,_ " Cornelia gestured worriedly while shaking her head at him.

"It's not that easy Cornelia. The human soldiers. They will follow," Caesar warned. " _Apes will have to run and keep running. Always trying to stay ahead of them. We cannot rebuild like this. We cannot raise our children like that._ "

Seeing Cornelia lower her face as a tear fell, Caesar reached out and wiped the stray tear away before he cup her cheek with his hand.

" _You, the females, the children will go back into the forest with the others waiting there. Go with them and find a new place. A hidden place so that the humans will not discover you, the females, or our children. The rest of the warriors and wounded apes will stay here. Keep the human soldiers occupied until you and the rest of the apes in the forest have done that. Until your trail is cold and to which the soldiers can no longer follow._ " Caesar explained.

" _What about you then?_ " Cornelia asked, her eyes becoming wet again.

" _If we cannot beat them here, then we will join you,_ " Caesar reassured, leaning in to put his face against hers, touching her gently before pulling away.

While his father pulled away from his mother, Cornelius had reached out for the older male, wanting to play with him.

"Later, son," Caesar breathed with a gentle smile upon his lips, reaching out to hold Cornelius' hand momentarily before looking back up at his wife. "We must hurry."

With that said, Cornelia quickly pulled Caesar into another strong hug, placing her face into the crook of his neck as he held onto her just as fiercely.

"Okay. But you. Must come back. To me," Cornelia breathed as she pulled back from her husband, meeting his eyes all the while.

Caesar stared at her for a long while before giving her a simple nod and turned around, leaving them. Cornelia sniffed quietly as she held onto their little son who protested and reached out for his father. Feeling a soft hand upon her arm, Cornelia turned to see Tinker sympathetically looking at her and immediately, Cornelia hugged her friend as tears began to fall from her eyes. Tinker meanwhile hooted softly in return, in hopes to soothe her.

Making his way through the crowd of frightened apes, Caesar finally made it outside. Looking around, Caesar spotted his friend with a few other gorillas; those being Red, Ajax, and Korso, all standing guard and looking at the flames that danced down the street.

Walking up to them, Caesar took Luca aside.

" _That attack. It wasn't just coincidence. They somehow knew where they were. They could send another one of those things at anytime. I want the females and children out of here, now._ " Caesar signed to the big silverback.

" _Then where should they all go, Caesar?_ " Luca gestured back.

" _You and the rest of the gorilla guard take them to the water for now, but stay out of sight from the humans. When night falls and it is dark. Go to the bridge quietly and cross over to the forest. Hopefully you will all meet up with the rest of our apes. Find a place to hid, far from here. Do you understand?_ " Caesar explained with a huff.

" _Am I to go with them too?_ " Luca questioned with a gruff.

Caesar looked into Luca's stern green eyes and knew that whatever he was going to say, Luca was just going to come back to his side. With a defeated sigh, he patted the silverback's shoulder.

" _Get the females across the bridge. Escort them into the forest until you find the rest of the apes there. Then you return to me. We must move the warrior's camp as well to distract the human soldiers. We will move each day. Maybe more than once a day, several times,_ " Caesar sighed tiredly.

Caesar then straightened his back, as did Luca and they both looked around themselves. Seeing the devastation that the human soldiers could produce.

"Until we know the females and children are safe… We must fight the humans here. Stop them from advancing and following our females. Our hope for a future. Then, we will go and join them later. Search for another home. A new home. And if we go far enough. Then the human soldiers will lose interest in us," Caesar said aloud, turning to look up at the sky, along with Luca.

Unbeknownst to Caesar and Luca, Red had approached a small distance between them and was curiously overhearing what their leader had to say. He could make out just the most minor of details before a call had caught his attention, causing him to see who it was. To his surprise, Red's eyes met the dark green ones that belong to Grey. The brown haired chimpanzee was standing a fair distance away and gestured for him to follow before disappearing. With a low growl, Red eyed both Caesar and Luca before he followed Grey to wherever he was taking them.

…

After recovering from such a loud explosion, Ellie removed her hands from her ears and cautiously raised her head, as did Koba. Getting up onto her feet, Ellie made her way on over to where the front door was and slowly pried it open. Making her way out onto the patio, Ellie could help but gasp to herself as she held her hand over her mouth, seeing the cloud of dark smoke that rose over in the distance. She couldn't believe it. Were the soldiers really that desperate to get rid of the apes? Do they not have any sense of the term compassion or peace?

While she stood there, still in shock, Ellie heard a few thumps, followed by a huffing noise behind her. Turning around, Ellie saw Koba standing there, leaning heavily onto the door frame for support. His red puffy eyes were large as they looked past her and into the distance, where the dark smoke was billowing into the air.

The two of them simply stood there, for a long time, both silent and taking in what they were seeing. Finally Ellie couldn't take any more of it and she turned around to face Koba who simply looked at her, his face unreadable.

But Ellie knew. She knew that deep down within his being that the scarred bonobo wanted to go back to the apes. But he couldn't… He was still recovering and by the looks of it, he himself knows that as well, and it pains her to see him, or anyone for that matter, like this. Slowly and hesitantly Ellie reached her right hand out and took Koba's left hand into hers, squeezing it lightly.

"They're going to be okay," Ellie said softly, not sure if she is reassuring herself or Koba.

Hearing her words though, Koba nodded once and slowly closed his left hand over Ellie's, not tightly but securely.

"Yes… Like you said. Apes will fight… They will live. I… I will believe. In them," Koba spoke quietly, turning to meet Ellie's eyes.

Koba then glanced down at their held hands momentarily before lifting his head to look up at the human nurse once more.

"Trust?" he said in a quiet voice, albeit hesitantly.

"Trust," Ellie smiled back at the scarred bonobo.

They both knew, that no matter how much they wanted to help, to stop all this. There was nothing they could do to remedy this now. All they have left was each other and through that they will both stay strong and wait this out. Then maybe. Just maybe. When the time is right and when they are both ready. They could go back and help Caesar and the other apes.

…

"They! Could have! Been! Killed!" Grey snapped angrily at Red while pacing back and forth in front of him.

Grey had heard word from some of the other apes that they had saw Red leading a few others to the human building earlier and had confronted the rusted haired gorilla about it. After some probing, the gorilla finally relented and spilled his plans to him, causing him to fume up at the idiocy of the whole thing. Red however lowered his head at the brown haired chimpanzee, averting his acid green eyes from Grey's dark green ones when he was yelled at.

" _You do not see what your actions could have caused. Did you ever wonder that maybe the humans could have seen the females in building instead? After you have lead them there? They were not very far Red,_ " Grey continued with a snarl.

At this Red huffed and looked away, seeming to think about what Grey had just told him before turning back to face the brown haired chimpanzee.

" _I did not know that humans had a weapon like that. No ape could have known,_ " Red answered back, showing no signs of regret for his actions.

At this Grey had let out another low growl while baring his fangs up at the red haired gorilla, who only seemed slightly phased.

" _But my plan seemed to have worked. Caesar is sending the rest of the females back into the forest, just as we had hoped. We have now separated him from them, from the future of apes. And I, as well as the rest of the others in the Gorilla Guard will be with them. Then finally, when the time is right, you will join us, take control, and lead us away from here. To a new home,_ " Red concluded with a proud grin.

Grey narrowed his dark green eyes at Red and huffed as he continued to pace back and forth in front of the gorilla before finally slowing down and closing his eyes. Reaching up, Grey rubbed the middle of his brows before turning to look behind him, at the human tower, the final resting place of both Pope and Koba.

Red watched as Grey stared at the tower for a long while before the brown haired chimpanzee finally turned back around to face him.

" _Leave. You and whoever else. Go with the females. The healers. The children. Keep them safe from human soldiers. Protect them until I join you. Understand?_ " Grey gestured, his face stern while he looked up at Red.

"Yes... My king," Red responded with a low bow offering his hand up in supplication.

Grey narrowed his dark green eyes at the red haired gorilla before reluctantly swiping his hand over Red's. He then stood there all alone as he watched Red galloping away, disappearing behind a building. Letting out a tired sigh, Grey turned his sights back to where the human tower stood, a sad frown upon his lips.

 _What would you have done, Koba? What would you think, Stone?_

Grey then lowered his gaze as his thoughts wandered back to his two friends. Both of them gone, leaving him all alone in the world.

Standing there for a long while, Grey had let out a huff and turned around, finally leaving the place.

…

Blue Eyes, Rocket, Alex and Malcolm all found the human camp the next afternoon. They approached the area with the utmost caution. Eventually the four of them found nothing about the place as it turned out to be empty.

"Seems like we just missed them," Malcolm announced as checked the wooden tables, finding them still slightly wet with blood.

While the others were looking about, Blue Eyes couldn't help but notice the several wooden posts by the houses towards their left. There was something about them that just bothered him that he couldn't quite figure out. He could see that some parts of the wood were scratched at but didn't know why it would affect him so much.

"Blue Eyes, you okay?" Alexander asked as she approached the young chimpanzee.

Without answering Alexander, Blue Eyes instead slowly approached one of the wooden posts on all fours and inspected the thing. To him it had looked like something was clawing through it. While he was taking a look at the post though, Alex had followed him and stood next to him, watching at what he was looking at in silence. With a huff, Blue Eyes placed his hand upon the post and slowly let his fingers roam upon the surface, until he felt and saw something familiar etched onto it. There, etched into the wood was a circle with a four point within it, creating a circle, the same sign that was scrapped into the stones back home. His father's symbol.

"Ash… Ray," Blue Eyes breathed in astonishment, before turning to look up at Alexander who curiously stared down at him, not understanding what the marks mean.

Averting Alex's eyes, Blue Eyes approached the other post and found the symbol again, smaller, but still his father's symbol nonetheless.

"Ash! Ray! With them!" Blue Eyes hooted out in excitement, knowing for sure that his two friends were alive and alright.

When Blue Eyes had announced to the others of his findings, Rocket happily patted the young prince on the shoulder.

"This is the window from Caesar's old home," Malcolm recalled seeing the symbol many a times throughout the ape colony before finally seeing where it had came from.

"Father's symbol. Unity. Hope. Trust," Blue Eyes explained while bringing his arms out in a circular motion before ending it near his chest. "And family."

Seeing Blue Eyes explain to them what the insignia had meant to the apes, Alexander couldn't help but stare on in wonder.

"Well. Let's go save your family then," Alexander beamed.

...

Not wasting anymore time, Rocket found the horse trail, belonging to these new humans and they all followed the roads once more. Eventually the four of them came upon a narrow valley and travelled through it, eventually coming to a stop as night approached them. The group had found a low cottonwood tree and both Blue Eyes and Rocket nested upon the low thick branches while Malcolm and Alex rested at the bottom of it.

"What's going to happen to them?" Alexander asked as he leaned his back into the tree.

"Put them. In cages," Rocket spoke up, causing both Malcolm and Alex to stare up at him to which he glanced back, tilting his head like Ash often would.

When Rocket had said that they'll most likely put Ash and Ray into cages, Blue Eyes couldn't help but think back of those tiny cells back at the ape sanctuary, shuddering at the thought. From what he could recall, from the stories from most of the elder apes. These stories about cages, none were ever good.

Blue Eyes had remembered when his uncle Maurice had invented the sign for "ape in a cage." He said it was to tell them their stories. Telling them, the younger apes, to never forget where they had came from, so that they and their children and their children's children would never go back there. Maurice had then told him and the rest of the younger apes of what their parents had gone through, to understand what had happened to them, to appreciate this freedom their mothers and fathers had fought so hard for. It had felt so long ago since Maurice had taught Blue Eyes and his peers this, they never really understanding nor cared about it then. But now, he understands a little more everyday and really do appreciate how his mother and father had risked their lives for this freedom of theirs.

Turning to look up at Rocket, Blue Eyes met the older ape's eyes and he smiled at his uncle, gaining a confused head tilt from the nearly hairless chimp. His smile however slowly disappeared from his face as Rocket kept his eyes on him and a sad thought came to mind.

"Apes put apes in cages too. Like Koba," Blue Eyes said slowly and signing at the same time in a sad voice. "Put Rocket in a cage."

Upon hearing Koba's name, everyone but Blue Eyes stiffened, confusing the young prince. All was silent until Rocket swung from where he was perched at and landed on the low branch that Blue Eyes was sitting on, near the ground.

"Yes. And Koba. Put humans. In cages. Too," Rocket spoke, causing Blue Eyes to frown and look away.

"Why? Why did he do that? Koba… He… He hated cages more than anyone," Blue Eyes asked his voice desperate, seeking for an explanation.

"Yes. He did," Rocket answered before slowly looking up at the darkening sky above them. "When I. Was free. After Caesar. Woke us. And we left sanctuary. My cage. Stayed with me. Long time," Rocket explained causing everyone to look at him.

Looking back down to meet everyone in the eyes, Rocket then tapped his chest, neck and head.

"Cage. Was still here," Rocket said slowly before he huffed quietly. "Sometimes. I missed it. Without walls. To hold me. I felt. Like. Falling…"

Hearing this, Alexander turned from Rocket to his father. Staring up at the older man, looking for answers. Malcolm however merely frowned and shook his head slowly from side to side.

"Koba like that too?" Blue Eyes inquired, to which Rocket turned to look at him.

"Koba. Too smart. He. Could not forget. He left. His real cage. behind. Like us. But he…" Rocket tried to say but couldn't think of exactly how to put it in words.

"He became his own cage," Malcolm spoke up, causing everyone to look at him. "Trapped. Within his own mind…"

"Yes. Koba became. Cage. And trapped," Rocket repeated before turning to look at Blue Eyes. " _Does that make sense?_ "

Blue Eyes thought about it for a moment, remembering his uncle Koba. How the scarred bonobo would move, flinch and walk into something. Finding the older ape usually in areas with small spaces. The way he would often touch at his scars, the strange dark look in his eyes everytime he looked at them. Finally Blue Eyes met Rocket's gaze once more and nodded, understanding.

"How… How did he become like that? Koba, I mean?" Alexander asked, causing all heads to turn towards him.

"Koba. Does not. Like talking. About past," Rocket simply explained. "Would not. Tell us. Even when. We try help."

"He didn't reach out and seek any help. So he was trapped in his own mind. Like a cage," Alexander breathed quietly. "Why didn't he?"

Rocket shook his head.

"Scared? Angry? Many things," Rocket answered.

Alexander frowned in on himself, wondering why the bonobo wouldn't allow the others to help him. But then again he wasn't put through years of torture and was stuck in a cage, so he wouldn't know what it was like. But by Rocket telling them this, he could imagine and perhaps understand Koba more, if just a little.

Rocket then had a sad look to his face as he looked up away from Alex and stared off into the distance. The gray colored chimpanzee was silent for a long while before he finally turned back to face them, meeting their searching eyes. With a huff, Rocket the puffed out his chest and pounded it with one hand.

"But then. I start to forget. Then. I never thought. About my cage. At all…" Rocket announced.

"W-what made you forget?" Alexander asked quietly, causing Rocket to turn towards him again.

Rocket had a certain look on his face, a look that only someone truly happy could have.

"My wife. Tinker. My son. Ash," Rocket answered fondly, hoving his fists over his heart. "What do humans. Call that?"

"Love," Malcolm answered, returning Rocket's smile, wrapping a hand around Alexander and hugging his son close to him. "We call it love."

Rocket stared at both Malcolm and Alexander for a long time before he nodded slowly a content smile on his face all the while.

"Friends too," Rocket said slowly, pointing to both of the humans. "And family," Rocket ended, turning to look at Blue Eyes and gesturing to him, surprising the young prince.

With this they all couldn't help but smile back at Rocket as well, informing them how he had escaped from his own cage, touched that he had now consider them all as friends and family.

Blue Eyes stood up on the branch that he was on and approached his uncle Rocket, embracing the older chimpanzee in a strong hug. Blue Eyes had felt terrible of what he had thought of his uncle Rocket. Because the older chimpanzee was not as quick minded and a bit slower in thinking. Blue Eyes had considered the bulkier chimpanzee a little less than the other apes.

But while hugging Rocket here, Blue Eye couldn't help but remember when Maurice had once explained to him the difference between intelligence and wisdom. And as a young ape, the distinction between the two had been lost on Blue Eyes. But now, finally, he thought he was beginning to understand what Maurice had been trying to tell him.

Rocket may not be the most intelligent of apes, nor was he the most clever. But he sure has the biggest heart, more so than any of them. And that was what made Rocket something else. Something special among the apes.

* * *

 **A little shorter and a little slower but I think this was kinda needed.**


	28. Chapter 28

With the approach of next morning, Blue Eyes, Rocket, Alex and Malcolm all came upon fields where plants were growing in rows. Blue Eyes and Rocket however scratched at themselves, trying to figure out why the plants grew like that but Malcolm and Alex knew better. Soon enough the four of them saw several humans coming over a small hill to tend to the plants.

"Humans," Blue Eyes spoke up, turning to look back at the others.

"Yeah, there's a few of them too," Malcolm answered just as quietly as he lowered himself with the others.

"Looks like they're working the fields. Wondering what they're growing?" Alexander piped up.

However their forth companion, Rocket, did not take the sight of humans as wonderfully as the others.

"Must hide. If humans see. They will alert. Us danger," Rocket cautioned, already easing himself away and out of sight.

Agreeing with the nearly hairless chimpanzee, everyone else followed Rocket, who lead them away from the fields. Trekking along the side, the group soon came upon a hill, and below it a town. Rocket and Blue Eyes had seen many of the human towns while they were on their journey, mostly desolate and empty as far as they can both recall. This one however was quite full of life. Not very large like the city skyscrapers, but a cluster of buildings arranged around a common square.

"Human homes?" Blue Eyes spoke up, turning to face Malcolm.

"Indeed. I never would have imagined that there were small pockets of human life way out here," Malcolm breathed, a small smile upon his face.

"Hey guys! Look over there!" Alex said aloud, causing all heads to turn to where he was pointing at.

There in a rather large cage that was built out of branches, wooden posts, wire and rope, sat both Ash and Ray. Upon seeing the other two apes, Blue Eyes and Rocket had let out a unified relieved breath, smiling, knowing that their other two companions were fine. But they all were still weary when they noticed several humans around the cage. These particular humans did not seem hostile towards Ash and Ray, rather they looked more curious about them. Although that didn't hide the fact that some of the humans were poking at both Ash and Ray through the wooden bars and tossed small stones at them to get their attention.

This of course did not settle well with Rocket, as he saw some of the humans poking at his son and Ray like they were some sort of animal. With a low growl the nearly hairless chimpanzee made to move forwards but was abruptly stopped by a hand on his arm. Snarling, Rocket rounded back around to see who had stopped him, surprised to see that it was Malcolm, a look of concern etched upon his features.

"No Rocket. Don't," Malcolm prompted.

They all watched as Rocket slowly turned his head back to where both of the other apes and stared momentarily before letting out a deep breath, deflating his shoulders, nodding slowly all the while. Opting to glare at the humans from afar instead.

When the poking and rock tossing did not stop the group noticed a very loud young human, running out from one of the buildings, chasing the other humans away from the cage. To Blue Eyes' surprise, he noticed that some of the larger humans even backed away from the loud mouthed human female. As if they were submitting to her. Narrowing his gaze, Blue Eyes watched on as the human female would turn to look at both Ash and Ray momentarily before she walked off into the building again.

Eventually the girl came back out with another woman and they fed the two apes in the cage. Satisfied that Ash and Ray were being kept well for now, Blue Eyes and Rocket had then chosen to sit down and try to count all of the humans there. They found it hard to count all of them, partly because many of the humans looked alike and both Blue Eyes and Rocket weren't sure if they had counted some of the humans twice.

Curious of their two companions, Alexander had sat down with Blue Eyes and Rocket.

"What are you guys doing?" Alexa asked.

"Counting humans," Blue Eyes replied.

"Oh? How many have you guys counted so far?" Alexander asked with a smile.

"Not sure. Hard to count. Humans. Look the same," Blue Eyes replied with a frown.

"What?" Alexander asked with a wry face, confusing Blue Eyes.

"Humans look the same?" Hard to tell," Blue Eyes repeated.

"Funny how that is," Alexander commented, thinking on it for a moment. "Want me to help?" he finally asked.

And so Alexander along with his father helped both Blue Eyes and Rocket in counting the humans, concluding that there seemed to be about less than a hundred that walked about, so far as they could tell at least. This was of course, excluding the little humans.

To Blue eyes' surprise though, he noticed that there were quite a lot of the little human children here, much more than the ones back in city. Unlike some of the adults, the human children did not seem hostile to both Ash and Ray, more or less seeming curious about the two apes, some looking like they wanted to touch them through the bars but were eventually lead away by the older ones.

"Well, alright then!" Malcolm said suddenly catching all of their attention.

"W-what dad?" Alexander asked curiously.

"I'm going to go down there. Make myself known. Hope that these people are not hostile and will try to negotiate Ash and Ray back," Malcolm informed.

"No. Too dangerous," Blue Eyes warned. "If humans find out. You help apes. They will hurt you too. Too dangerous."

"Dangerous for them too, Blue," Malcolm countered as he pointed at the cage that held both Ash and Ray.

Blue Eyes and Rocket both turned their heads to look at their two caged companions before meeting each other's eyes, stuck in a dilemma of sorts.

"This is the reason why we came with you. With all of you. To prevent hostilities from both apes and humans," Malcolm explained to the two apes. "Let us help you," Malcolm said to the young prince.

At this Blue Eyes thought for a long moment. Maybe sending in Malcolm was not a bad idea after all. He could possibly negotiate the release of Ash and Ray. That is, if these humans were not hostile like the ones they've seen in the city. But then again this is putting the man in danger too and Blue Eyes didn't want that. There were so many wrong that could happen but yet there was a possibility that this could work for them as well. What would his father do?

Making eye contact with Rocket, the older chimpanzee merely grunted.

"Do what you think is right," Rocket gestured back.

After a long thinking process on Blue Eyes' part. The young chimp met Malcolm's eyes once more and nodded.

"You can go. But if there is danger you come right back," Blue Eyes ordered. "And if you don't return when sky is dark," Blue Eyes continued.

"And if I don't return by night?" Malcolm inquired.

"Then we get you. Ash and Ray," Rocket answered simply with a grunt.

"You got it buddy," Malcolm answered as he made to stand up.

"Wait, I'm coming too," Alexander spoke up as well, standing.

"No," Malcolm said simply, causing the teen to falter. "This is dangerous Alex. You are not going with me. I don't want you there if things go south."

"But-"

"No Alexander! Stay here with Blue Eyes and Rocket. They're going to need your help," Malcolm said sternly towards his son.

The teen huffed, glaring down at the ground for a long moment before nodding slowly. Upon seeing this, Malcolm's face softened and he reached out to give Alex a hug.

"I'll do my best to talk to these people. Get Ash and Ray back. You guys stay hidden until then," Malcolm spoke to all of them, gaining slow nods in return. "And if I don't return by sundown… Please. Just be careful."

With that said, Malcolm took in a deep breath and turned towards the town. After a moment more, the man made his way down the hill and straight into town. They watched with anticipation as Malcolm walked towards the other humans and was briefly stopped by several of them, his arms raised to show that he was friendly. It wasn't long until Malcolm was taken elsewhere and disappeared from view.

"If you father. Does not return. Then we do as we say. We wait until night. And get all of them," Blue Eyes spoke, turning to look at Alexander who nodded silently.

"We should. Be able. To. Sneak in. And free. Them," Rocket voiced in as well, trying to reassure Alex, if not he himself as he kept his eyes on Ash.

So that's what they did and waited patiently.

…

Making eye contact with the little human children Ash barked once at them, causing them all to let out small fits of squealing laughter before they dispersed quickly, only for them to all to crowd around his cage once more. Since he and Ray were brought here Ash had grown accustomed to this little game that he was playing with the small children. He would bark, they run, and then come back, only to repeat the process over and over again. These little human children were very much like their own young ones back in their home. Of course there were several times where one of the older humans would come over and take one of their little ones away from their play, giving him the dirty eye all the while but Ash didn't mind. As long as he kept himself busy and was not hurting anyone then he and Ray were safe. For now.

When they had first been brought into the human town both he and Ray marveled at how alive everything looked to them. These human all had little homes, were walking about, singing, eating and doing many strange things that they've never seen before. However when they were sighted all of the humans merely gawked at the both of them, some out of fear, others out of curiosity and a few in looks of wonder.

The humans had tied both he and Ray together tightly before some of they began working together on something. It wasn't until a little later that morning did both he and Ray had seen that the humans were working on some sort of makeshift cage for the both of them. They were immediately tossed inside and luckily Carla had vouched for their limbs to be untied since they were put within the cage. The other humans were hesitant at first but eventually they did as what Carla had asked. And the both of them had been like that ever since.

" _Stop playing with children and help me figure out how to escape,_ " Ray tapped Ash's shoulder to get his attention, frustrated that the older ape wasn't taking their predicament seriously.

" _We will figure out later. The humans will get suspicious of us if they see us tampering with cage. Best wait,_ " Ash nonchalantly signed back, close to his chest so that only Ray could see before he went back to making faces to the little human children, causing another uproar of a fit of laughter from them.

With a defeated sigh, Ray slumped his shoulders slightly and figured that Ash was right. If they were seen trying to free themselves, they both would be in more trouble than necessary. Best they should wait until then.

While he watched Ash making faces with the human children, Ray noticed one of them, a little female, he would assume by their longer hair and higher pitched squeals, was curiously watching him. Making eye contact with her, Ray tilted his head curiously at the girl as she slowly approached him. Meeting the little human girl's eyes, Ray's curiosity got the best of him and hesitantly he stuck his hand out towards her. The little human seemed timid at first as she twisted her body to and fro, not sure if she should approach him or not. After a little while though she finally decided to make her way towards him, standing just out of reach.

At this time, Ash and the other children had stopped in their play and were watching both Ray and the little girl curiously. The little human girl looked down at Ray's welcoming hand before she turned her dark brown eyes and met Ray's dark green ones once more. The two stared at each other for a long while before the little girl shyly reached out towards Ray's hand.

"Hey!"

Immediately Ash, Ray and the human children all turned their heads in the direction where they had heard the shout and in came running one of the older humans, bearing a large dangerous looking stick. Ray quickly pulled back his arm as the man raised the pole, brandishing it like a weapon and swung down with it, nearly striking his arm, where it was just moments before.

"Don't touch the kids you stinking animal!" the man shouted at both Ash and Ray, causing all the little ones to scream and run away from the scene.

"Hey!" a familiar voice shouted from behind all of them.

Turning around, Ash and Ray saw Feliz running out from one of the buildings and straight towards them.

"What's going on here?! What do you think you're doing?!" Feliz snapped angrily.

"One of your monkeys was going to rip my little girl's arms off!" the man shot back.

"Oh yeah? Well maybe someone should've been keeping an eye on their own kid! The apes are locked up! How in the world would the be able to-"

Ash and Ray were confused by all of the yelling that was going on between Feliz and the other human man, both screaming obscenities towards one another. Before long Ash and Ray both saw Carla walking up to the two and spoke calmly to both. Whoever this Carla was to the humans, they seemed to respect her and slowly the man turned around and left without another word, while Feliz merely frowned at the leaving human.

As both Ash and Ray separated from one another, they watched as many of the little human children were slowly being lead away by the bigger ones, leaving only a few left to look about and play quietly nearby. Hearing approaching footsteps, both Ash and Ray looked up, surprised to see the girl, Feliz glaring down at them.

"I leave for about five minutes and you guys are already causing trouble," Feliz snapped at them, noticing their heads lowering.

Just when Ash and Ray thought they were going to get another mouthful of lectures, Carla had stepped in.

"Feliz why don't you go rest for a bit," the older woman suggested.

While still glaring at both Ash and Ray, the girl took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

"Ugh! Whatever! I can't believe we're even risking our necks for the both of you!" Feliz announced suddenly before stomping away, back in the direction from where she came from.

"Such a temper on that girl," Carla said aloud with a sigh before turning to face the two younger apes. "I'm sorry you two. It's not everyday that we humans see ones such as yourselves. Hopefully no other problems will arise from this."

Ash and Ray stared up at the woman, wondering to themselves if she had figured out that they could understand her. But as Carla looked on, she suddenly turned away and let out a small fit a of laughter, confusing the two.

"Oh dear. There I go again. Talking to myself," Carla said aloud while waving a hand in front of her face, like she was shooing something away from her.

And with that, Ash and Ray then watched as Carla slowly followed Feliz back into the building from where she came, leaving the both of them there alone once more.

" _We should. Stop,_ " Ray gestured to the older white flecked chimp.

" _Yes,_ " Ash agreed, sighing to himself before leaning onto the wooden bars, watching the humans from afar.

As the morning drew on, with nothing to do, and ignoring the persistence from the new humans that poked him with a stick and even tossed pebbles at both he and Ray. Ash was just about to doze off when he heard Ray hooting quietly. Jolting awake, Ash quickly turned to look at the younger orangutan before following Ray's gaze to see what had cause for his surprising hoot. When Ash finally saw Malcolm's form approaching the other humans from afar, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of the man.

They were both going to be saved.

Happy to see the older human, Ash was about to call out towards him but was immediately stopped by Ray, who latched onto his arm and shook his head quickly.

" _Dangerous,_ " Ray gestured worriedly.

At this, Ash huffed as his face fell and he slowly turned back around to look at Malcolm once more, noticing the older human glance their way quickly before turning to face the other humans around him. Then both he and Ray watched on as Malcolm was then led away, into one of the buildings. Leaving the both of them there, all alone once more.

"What do? Ash?" Ray whispered quietly as he took a hold of the cage.

"Do not know," Ash answered just as quietly as he too watched on with worry.

…

While the trio waited for Malcolm's hopeful return, the lack of sleep the night before was finally taking a toll upon the three. Blue Eyes had tried his best to stay awake, finding himself drifting in and out of a light sleep, lulled to slumber by the sounds of the birds, and even the chatter of the humans from afar. Eventually as the day wore on, Blue Eyes finally gave in to the serene sounds and soon closed his eyelids, allowing sleep to take a hold of him.

He knew naught how long he was asleep for, but Blue Eyes woke up with a start, surprised to discover that Rocket had too fallen asleep, draping one heavy arm over his face. With a tired sigh, Blue Eyes gently pushed his uncle's arm off of him before slowly pulling himself into a sitting position. Looking up at the sky, he noticed that the world was starting to go dark, seeing just the small twinkling lights of the stars appearing. He was about to get up and stand but someone's hand suddenly shot out and took a hold of his arm. He was about to react to the sudden motion but stopped when he heard Alexander's voice.

"Blue Eyes don't move!" Alex whispered, causing the chimpanzee to go still.

"What is wrong Alex? Where is your father? Has he returned?" Blue Eyes asked, reaching up to rub away the sleep from his eyes.

"Shhhh. Dad's not back yet but there's something else out here with us." the human teen replied, cautiously looking around. "Do you hear that?"

At this, Blue Eyes listened and soon enough he could hear the familiar sounds of nickering of horses. Horses? Out here? But then Blue Eyes and Alexander turned their heads when they saw the beginning of lights starting up in the town. It had always amazed Blue Eyes at what the humans had accomplished. They had made fire light without the use of the fire itself. A thing of wonder when he had first saw it, but now… It only brought him a sense of dread. A thing of fear in the way humans used it to search for apes in the dark… Like back in the city.

While on that thought Blue Eyes couldn't help but think about those horrors of that night that felt so long ago. Apes and humans dying in the streets. Yelling and gunfire everywhere around him. The strange lights that filled the darkness in all sorts of colors that he's never seen before. If these humans had these lights, then most likely they have other things too. Such as weapons, like the ones on the ship. In the city. The thing Malcolm had told him about. Small boxes that allowed them to talk to other humans over vast distances. Call upon enemies to come for them, to fight against his father. While thinking on these things, Blue Eyes couldn't help himself as he hunched over and began to rock back and forth, breathing quickly. His hairs standing on end, with his wide eyes staring at the eerie bright lights that shone in the darkness. As if it were mocking him and beckoning him to approach them.

He was afraid.

While he sat there, rocking in on himself, feeling like something was suffocating him, Blue Eyes suddenly felt a hand upon his shoulder, causing him to turn and see who it was. With the barest of the town's light just slightly illuminating Alexander's face, Blue Eyes could see that the teen was looking at him, his features full of concern.

"It's okay Blue Eyes. Breath. Just breath," Alexander spoke quietly.

And Blue Eyes did just that. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to steady his breathing, thinking on anything but the strange lights that reminded him of the battle in the city. After a little while, Blue Eyes managed to calm himself down enough to open up his eyelids once more, staring straight at the light that were produced from the town.

"Are you okay now?" Alexander asked hesitantly.

"Yes… Thank you. Alex," Blue Eyes said quietly.

"You gave me quite a scare there,," Alexander breathed back."You're welcome by the way."

There was a suddenly whicker of horses again, disrupting the two youngsters from each other, causing them to look around themselves. Soon enough there were the several beats of horse hooves off towards their left, beyond their hiding place within the bushes that they were hiding behind. Blue Eyes and Alexander held their breaths as they could now see the silhouettes of the horses and their riders, all outlined by the reddish hue of the sunset behind them, making them almost glow against the night of the world.

In that faint, vermillion twilight, Blue Eyes and Alexander could now see the riders upon three horses, all them apes. Keeping still the both of them watched the ape riders as they stared down at the lights below, struck with wonder and fear alike, just as Blue Eyes was.

Blue Eyes craned his head as he took a closer look at the three apes, noticing that one of them looked very familiar. Blue Eyes' breath caught in his throat when he noticed why the ape had looked so familiar. It was Fox, with a rifle resting casually across his lap while he stared down at the town. Frowning, Blue Eyes tried to look past Fox, but couldn't tell who the other apes were.

It couldn't be coincidence that Fox and the other two apes were on the same ridge as them, each holding a weapon no less. Those three must have been the apes who had followed them all the way from the city. The ones who shot at them back at the sanctuary. And were now here, looking for them.

Blue Eyes couldn't help but bare his fangs at Fox at such a betrayal. He could still remember the look the older chimp had given him, the day on the bridge. When he was frozen with fear when he and Ash were being shot at by the humans from the city. Blue Eyes could even recall the older chimp frowning at his father's plans and sometimes even speaking out against them, along with a few others.

Was Fox really going to kill him and the others? When did he decide that they should die?

"Blue Eyes? What do we do?" Alexander whispered, snapping Blue Eyes out of his thoughts.

Blue Eyes glanced slowly over his shoulder at the human teen before he placed a finger onto his lips. Alex nodded, knowing that they must be quiet. With that, Blue Eyes gingerly bent down and nudged Rocket to quietly wake him. To both Blue Eyes and Alexander's horror, Rocket made a snorting sound as he woke with a start. Thinking quickly, Blue Eyes reached for his gun, but Fox had heard Rocket and was already turning his head, looking in their direction. Blue Eyes froze, his finger merely inches away from his weapon while Alexander had too stopped in reaching for his.

Upon meeting Blue Eyes, Fox had let out a low hoot and the other two apes moved around him. As they both came into view, Blue Eyes could now recognize Stripe, who glared back at him. The other was Bon, another chimpanzee that had followed Pope before.

Breath caught in his throat, Blue Eyes could only stare with wide eyes as both Stripe and Bon recognized their prince by the bushes. Upon sighting Blue Eyes, Bon huffed and grinned menacingly his prince, while Stripe did not hesitate. Stripe jerked his arm up with his rifle, pointing it at Blue Eyes, and pulled the trigger.

Blue Eyes gasped when he heard the deafening sound of the gun and tensed his body for pain, but that never came. Instead, Blue Eyes was surprised when he saw a rock flying fast past him, striking his would be shooter right in the chest. Stripe had let out a surprised yelp as he careened backwards, plummeting from his mount with his gun firing into the starry night sky. The sounds of its repeating, echoing off into the far distance.

Gasping, Blue Eyes turned his head quickly towards his right, seeing that Rocket was already reaching down for another rock. As the older chimp reached for the intended object however, Rocket had to jump backwards as the ground in front of him kicked up dirt as Fox and Bon were now shooting at them, bullets missing them.

Blue Eyes quickly turned back to their attackers when he heard a yelp coming from Fox. It was then Blue Eyes had realized that unlike he and the other apes, Fox was still not used to his weapon and had not accounted the recoil from the gun. Blue Eyes watched as Fox tried to control his weapon but failed to do so, unable to let go of the trigger which knocked him backwards off of his own horse. As Fox fell, he had hit the lip of the hill, letting out a painful grunt, before disappearing from edge and into the darkness below.

By this time, Rocket had rid himself of his stupor, retrieved his weapon and was shooting his gun at Bon who had remained. Pope's follower was quick as he ducked behind his horse, the bullets whizzing by him, missing only by a hair. The chimpanzee then dropped from the animal and quickly jumped behind the hill for cover as Rocket continued to fire at him.

Scrambling on the ground for his weapon, Blue Eyes was breathing hard, desperate to find his gun that lay hidden somewhere.

"Blue Eyes?!" Alexander panicked.

"My gun!" Blue Eyes answered back.

As Blue Eyes finally found his own weapon again, lost in the confusion, they all heard another burst of gunfire from behind him. Turning around quickly, Blue Eyes was surprised to see a fourth ape, Aghoo, riding into view, his weapon pointed right at the chimpanzee prince. If the situation wasn't so dire and if Ash was with them. Blue Eyes could swore that his honorary brother would had fallen over, laughing, seeing how ridiculous Aghoo rode in on his tiny looking horse.

Alex and Blue Eyes however stood there, petrified by the bigger gorilla charging in on his horse with his gun pointed at them. The two youngsters then felt something tackling them hard from the side, sending them tumbling down the hillside they were on as Aghoo fired his gun again. The two youngsters grunted and hissed in pain as their bodies rolled down the rocky slope that nicked and dug into their sides. Eventually Blue Eyes and Alexander came to a slow stop and groaned as their bodies ached from such a fall.

Laying there, both Blue Eyes and Alexander groaned to themselves before someone immediately picked them up from the ground.

"Run! Quick!" Rocket barked at the two before he raised his gun up at the top of the hill and fired when he saw two shadows popping over it.

Quickly recovering and doing what the older ape had said, both Blue Eyes and Alexander followed suit and began to run through the darkness, dodging across the stoney hillside with bullets fizzing near them and striking sparks into the stones by their feets. Running the three finally found a boulder and quickly dove behind it with Rocket jumping behind it last as he turned and fired back at the other apes. The three of them could hear Aghoo bellowing in anger, rather than pain as he lost sight of them in the darkness. Rocket decided to try his luck again as he leaned out and fired with his gun but was confused when it didn't recoil when he pulled the trigger. Trying again, several more times, Rocket threw his weapon away down the side in frustration.

This was bad news for them. Their extra ammunition was on their horses, wherever they are. Which only left Blue Eyes and Alexander with however many bullets were lift within their own guns. And with what had recently occured the last couple of days they all didn't expect it to be much.

"What do we do? I-I don't think we have enough bullets left!" Alexander breathed turning his head towards the human town.

Following the teen's gaze, Blue Eyes could see that the town was no longer quiet. Lights blared from up on towers, and there was a good deal of yelling from below. A group of humans were forming up near the gates, with lights shining from their hands, like the ones Alexander and Malcolm used from time to time.

"We must leave!" Rocket panted as he stood fully erect and peered from behind the two youngsters. "Now!"

With a huff, both Blue Eyes and Alexander cast their sights back down at both Ash and Ray, whom were looking worriedly from their cage. Blue Eyes knew that his two friends couldn't see them of course as they were looking from light into darkness. But maybe they would have seen the flames of their guns. No matter what Blue Eyes had wanted to stay and rescue his friends, their safety was top priority right now. Rocket knows this and it must be even harder for him because he has to abandoned Ash behind.

"Yes, we must go. But which way?" Blue Eyes turned back around, along with Alexander.

Rocket looked around quickly before he perked up and pointed off in a direction.

"There! Slope on hill. Too steep for horses to follow," Rocket observed. "If they follow. Us. Without horses. Then we can ambush. If not. We will get ahead," he concluded.

Looking from Rocket to Alex, Blue Eyes stared up at the teen, waiting for him to voice in. Alex however merely nodded quickly, assenting to what Rocket had suggested. Turning back to his honorary uncle, Blue Eyes too nodded once, and together they bounded off through the brush and into the dark. As they all ran, gunfire exploded behind the three, but this time those sounds were met with reports, not from them but from the town itself.

…

Winter huffed as he followed close behind the large group of silent apes as they all crossed the dark and silent bridge. It had been about a days since the fantastical event that ripped one of the buildings apart but they had all managed somehow as Caesar and the other's had lead all of the females and children towards the water. It was there they stayed undercover until some of the apes had drawn most of the soldiers away once more. Then, once it was all clear, they began their journey back into the safety of the forest, in the darkness of the night.

Winter despised the night, glancing around he very much envied the other apes and their dark coats. Allowing them to blend in with the night and at least hide within the shadows if the humans were looking for them. But him? No, not with his white colored hair. Even under the faintest of night skies, he glowed like the light of the moon, which made it impossible for him to hide in the night. He couldn't help but remember how when he would always be the first one to be found in their hide-and-seek games after dark. He hated those times… When the other adolescents would go out to hunt small game, he was never invited, because he would alert their prey with his stupid white pelt.

Confirming of what he was thinking, Winter side glanced at Luca, Ajax and Brutus as they stuck close to him, hiding his white body from the prying eyes of the humans, if they were watching from afar.

Turning his sights upwards to where most of the warriors were at, Winter knew that Glade was up there, somewhere, looking down at him. Keeping watch just in case, should anything happen. Grunting, Winter knew that Glade had told him to leave but he couldn't just let it go. Why couldn't he stay with the bonobo? Why did he want to stay with the bonobo? That's what confused him the most.

"Why can I. Not stay. Here?" Winter asked Luca silently. "I can stay. And fight."

"Females have children. There are sick. Hurt. And old apes. Too. They need hunters. And. Warriors. To fend off predators. Strong backs. To help them build shelter. To protect them. This is what. We do. What Gorilla Guard. Does." Luca answered.

"But you. Fight. With Caesar," Winter answered back.

"Winter. Stop," Ajax warned from the front, turning his head slightly to address the younger gorilla, whom lowered his head slightly.

Luca huffed and reached out, placing a hand upon Ajax's shoulder before turning to look at Winter once more, as they all continued to walk across the bridge.

"Remember Winter. It is honor. For us," Luca reassured the young white haired gorilla. "Before apes. Had village. Before apes. Had wall. We gorillas. Were the walls. Like Buck. Before us. Who died. So that we. Can all be free," he explained.

Upon hearing this, Winter merely frowned in on himself as he continued to listen to Luca.

"We gorillas. Walk around. The troops. Encircle them. And do not let. Danger get through. That is you. That is Ajax. That is Korso and me. We may not. Be fast. And not the best. Swingers in trees. But we. Are strongest. And nothing. Can get past. Us gorillas." Luca informed.

"Except humans. With gun," Winter breathed.

"We have guns. Too," Ajax spoke up. "Do. Not worry. We fight humans. With their weapons."

"Most important though. Our home. Is gone. And we must. Find. a new home. For apes. And once again. We must be. Walls for our apes. For when enemy comes. They will seek. Weakest part of wall. To attack. That will not. Be you. understand?" Luca spoke to Winter as they continued.

"But… I have. No color. Am white. Enemies see me. From across forest. At night," Winter responded.

"Wall. Not meant. To be invisible. Winter," Luca explained, causing Winter to turn his head to look at the dark form of Luca curiously. "Simply knowing. That wall is there. Sends enemies running. In other direction. No matter what you are. You only need. To display strength," Luca finished.

As Winter thought upon Luca's words, on what it means to be in the Gorilla Guard. What they do in order to defend the apes. When hearing this and understanding about why it was necessary for him to go, he did feel a bit better. But that leaves the question of why he had wanted to stay. On that thought, his minded had then wandered back to before he had crossed the bridge.

With a snort, Winter was woken up by one of the other gorillas a few hours after dark. Blinking tiredly, Winter looked about himself, seeing that many of the others were already up and ready. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Winter himself felt like he had barely any rest at all with fearful dreams of falling, smoke and fire kept waking him during most of his rest. But now, looking around, he could see the other apes' slumped shoulders, as if they hadn't rest at all. He should at least consider himself lucky to have gotten a few winks in.

Hearing a small hoot towards his left, Winter had then turned to face a small figure quickly approaching him. That figure was none other than the bonobo Glade, who had kept near him in his hour of need.

"Time for Winter to go," Glade spoke quietly, making to stand up, once he was at Winter's side.

"What. About. You?" Winter asked hesitantly, standing up. "Coming. Too?"

With that question, Winter could see the bonobo beside him going quiet within the dark. As the silent drew on, Winter was starting to grow uneasy, unsure if the bonobo would even answer him at this point.

"Cannot go," Glade finally replied, noticing Winter's breath hitch slightly.

"Glade. Not coming?!" Winter huffed, worry lacing his voice. "Why?"

"Glade place. Is here. With Caesar... And other. Warriors," Glade answered in a quiet soft voice, unable to lift his head up to meet Winter's.

The both of them grew silent again, with only the soft padding of the other apes making their way out towards the bridge that connected the human city to their home in the forest.

"I… I want. To. Stay. Then," Winter began, trying to stand tall.

Glade's shadowy form merely looked up at Winter. He wasn't sure of what the bonobo was thinking as the smaller ape looked at him, unable to see his face in the night. But he heard Glade eventually heaving out a tired sigh and slowly shook his head side to side.

"Winter does not. Belong here," Glade quickly responded, confusing the white haired gorilla. "Winter needed elsewhere. With females and children. The old. The hurt and sick. They need Winter's strength," Glade piped up.

Upon hearing this, Winter lowered his head in shame and turned his head away from Glade, a deep frown etched upon his mouth.

"I. Not strong…" Winter grounded out with a huff. "Back in city. When the air shook. When building on fire. I was so afraid. Could not. Do anything. Am weak. Like what Aghoo said," Winter explaining his faults to the bonobo in front of him, shameful about them.

The both of them were silent for a long time as the sounds of soft murmurs and padding footsteps echoed around them.

"Winter not weak," Glade spoke up, causing Winter to curiously look at the bonobo. "Winter strong. Because Winter knows he is scared. But. Winter still stay. Want to fight. Want to help. Very brave. So that makes. Winter not weak. Not to me," Glade finished as he drew his arms close into his own chest.

Although he couldn't see Glade in the dark of the night, he somehow knew that the bonobo was staring up at him, smiling at him, and it made him feel warm and relaxed.

"Glade. Happy that Winter. Want to stay," Glade answered quietly. "But Winter must go. Protect our future," Glade finished sadly.

"But-"

Before Winter could say more, Glade had reached up and placed a finger upon the gorilla's lips, silencing him. The albino ape was surprised by this but then noticed the bonobo placing a finger upon his own lips as well in the faint light of night.

"Must be quiet now," Glade whispered, straightening out his back and he silently glance around them. "You must go," he said quietly into the night air.

Winter whimpered, quickly glancing towards the others as they were leaving before he turned to meet Glade once more.

"Be light for apes. Who have lost their way. In the dark," Glade spoke up, confusing the albino gorilla.

Before more could be said the last group of apes were now making their way towards the bridge in the darkness. With both Winter and Glade watching the moving shadowy masses moving away the bonobo turned away and began walking in the opposite direction. Glade however stopped and turned back around, reached up, cupped Winter's cheeks and brought their foreheads together.

"Please be safe Winter," Glade spoke softly.

"Glade. Too," Winter whimpered back, reaching up to hold the back of Glade's head for a moment before dropping his hand back down to his side.

With that said between them the two apes finally separated from each other and slowly went off in their respected directions.

With the memory of him and Glade fading from his mind, Winter noticed that they eventually made it to the other side of the bridge, unscathed. He looked around as the apes started to enter the dark of the forest, turning to look back at Luca, Ajax and the others. Winter watched as Luca walked up to him and stood there.

"I fear I will make. Poor part. Of our wall. Luca. Fear. that I am weak."

Winter then felt a strong grip upon his shoulder, causing him to lift his head to look at Luca's dark form.

"Fear. Not weakness," Luca said quietly. "Everything. Has something. To fear. It tells us. What our. Limits are. It whispers. Inside. Where only we. can hear. So fear can help. Tells us. Our limits," Luca explained, noticing Winter lower his head again. "But. Winter must remember," Luca spoke up again, causing Winter to raise his head once more. "Fear is not honest. It also lies. Like how a mother. Lies to protect. Her child."

Luca then put his hand behind Winter's head and drew the younger gorilla's head close so that their foreheads were touching.

"You will be strong. When times comes. I know," Luca explained.

Upon hearing this from Luca, Winter couldn't help but imagine that Glade was telling him the same thing as well.

* * *

 **Holy crud, I think this is the most the apes had ever spoken aloud to each other in a chapter without using hand signs.**

 **I also forgot to mention a character that was used last chapter, which I will do here now:**

 **Korso \- From Revelations.**

 **Characters that are now named in this chapter:**

 **Bon \- From _Dawn of the Planet of the Apes_ the comic book series from BOOM! Studios.**

 **Brutus \- From _Last Frontier_.**


	29. Chapter 29

Sleeping soundlessly, both Ash and Ray woke when their cage door was opened. They had both been awake most of the night, alerted by the gunfire that happened outside of the town. Ash and Ray figured that it was Blue Eyes, Rocket and Alexander trying to create a distraction in hopes that they might be rescued, so they both needed to be ready in the meantime. They had seen the human Jack and about twenty more humans armed themselves before rushing out of the town. Breathing heavily in anticipation, Ash and Ray waited eagerly to be saved, wondering where Malcolm was throughout all of this. But then maybe he was suppose to save them as he did come into the town.

But as they waited through the night, and it dragged on their rescue never came.

Eventually Ray was the first to doze off after waiting so long and soon enough, Ash followed suit, unable to keep his heavy eyelids open any longer. But as soon as they both had awoken from their slumber, both Ash and Ray noticed that they were no longer along within the cage. Someone else had been shoved in there with them. Even in the dim light of the early mornings, Ash and Ray could see that whoever this someone was, was not Rocket, Blue Eyes nor Alexander.

It was Fox.

Ray couldn't help but narrow his eyes and slightly bare his fangs at the unconscious chimpanzee though. Fox is a few winters older that he himself, a bit older than both Ash and Blue Eyes, being born only a few weeks after the great liberation that Caesar led the older apes in. Fox was strong, smart and somewhat of a bully. Not to the point of Aghoo and his cronies but enough to make Ray not want to do anything with the older chimp. No one knew of Fox's father but Ray had seen Fox claiming that his father was Koba. Curious about it, Ray had once mentioned that to his own father to which the older orangutan merely grumbled in laughter.

" _Koba is not Fox's father,_ " Ray's father chuckled while he signed. " _Imani and Koba had not met each other; before she became swollen with Fox in her belly. Even then, Fox's mother and Koba had been in different cages from different places,_ " the older orangutan finished with a hoot of laughter.

Nevertheless, Ray had seen Fox looking up to the scarred bonobo as if he were his father, even though Koba never reciprocated the feeling. Instead, Koba had treated Blue Eyes more like a son, or something akin to what would be like a sister's or brother's son. And by that, Ray knew that Fox harbored a great hatred towards Blue Eyes for it. But the older chimpanzee was smart enough to not let that hatred show though. At least, not often. But enough for Ray to see those dark glare of Fox's that were directed at Blue Eyes when their prince was not looking.

As the memory faded from his mind, while he glared down at Fox, Ray wasn't surprised that the older chimp was one of the apes that was following them, trying to kill them. Ray watched Ash as the older chimpanzee moved on over to where Fox laid, tentatively inspecting him. Whatever empathy Ray had towards the unconscious chimpanzee though, paled in comparison to the anger and hatred he now felt for him. For trying to hunt them down and kill them.

With a angry huff, Ray stomped on over and roughly jabbed his fingers into Fox's body, surprising Ash in the process.

"Ray?!" Ash breathed out hesitantly, confused as to why the younger orangutan was being so rough on Fox, who stirred and groaned in his sleep but did not wake.

"We! Should kill! Him!" Ray hissed out.

Upon hearing this, the fur on Ash's body bristled and he quickly turned to face Ray with an incredulous look to his eyes. Not sure if he had heard the younger orangutan correctly or not. But seeing the unwavering anger within Ray's eyes, Ash knew that the orangutan had meant what he had said.

" _Ray? What has gotten into you?_ " Ash asked curiously, not seeing this side of the younger orangutan before, or ever.

" _Do not act like you don't know!_ " Ray gestured back angrily at Ash, who took a step back from him, now frowning. " _Why do you think Fox is here. With us? He is trying to kill us Ash! Your father was right. If we don't stop him here now, he will kill both me and you. He is stronger than than the both of us. A better fighter too. So we should strangle him while he is still not awake,_ " Ray finished with his teeth bared.

As Ray fumed on the spot, he was quite surprised by how much his anger and hatred ran deep within him. His bitterness for Pope, Koba and their followers had caused him, his father and the rest of the apes in the colony. How much he just wanted to choke the life out of the other ape. Wanting to make Fox and whoever else came with him to pay for what they were doing, what they had done to him and what more they could do to cause more harm to the colony.

Ash frowned at the angry Ray, apprehensively turning his attention back and forth from the fuming orangutan to the older chimpanzee. Ash however silently stood between Ray and Fox, confusing the younger orangutan.

"Ape not kill ape." Ash said slowly, meeting Ray in the eyes.

Upon hearing this from Ash, Ray blinked dumbfoundedly for several seconds, still seeing the soft greens of Ash's eyes, looking back down at him, a sadness to them. Huffing quietly, Ray quickly glanced back down at Fox's form before meeting Ash's gaze once more. As he stood there staring up at the older chimpanzee, something broke within Ray, causing his shoulders to slump and his breathing to hitch. Turning away from Ash, Ray walked to the other end of their cage and sat down, wrapping his hands around himself. As he quietly sat there, Ray could see from the corner of his eyes, Ash approaching him, sitting down next to him. The older ape then reached out and wrapped one arm around Ray's back in a comforting gesture.

"I-" Ray started but hiccuped, before burying his face into his arms, ashamed at himself.

Ash however merely smiled sadly at Ray and rubbed the younger orangutan's back. He knew exactly where Ray's anger was stemming from. He had seen it in the eyes of many of his peers as well as other apes too, after the battle with the humans. The hatred and anger set within their eyes. The need to want and blame someone for what had happened. To make them pay. But deep down he knew that they were all scared, hurt and saddened greatly by what has happened to all of them. And Ray was one of these apes that was hurting as well. So instead dwelling on that deep seated hatred and anger within them, the both of them waited in silence. Eventually the human lights slowly disappeared with the rise of the sun.

While neither one had talked for a long while, and after Ray had calmed down a bit. Both of the young apes perked up their heads when they saw someone making their way towards them, seeing that it was none other than Feliz.

"Three of you guys now, hrm?" she said, looking at all of the apes in the cage that they shared. "Can't be coincidence that there's another one of ya out there. Do you know him?" Feliz asked, turning to look at Ash, who perked up at her. "He looks like you. Is he your brother or something?" she then cocked her head at Ray. "Probably not your brother though. Cause you look different from the both of them. Different monkeys… I mean apes and all that," Feliz said aloud face scrunching up in thought.

Both Ray and Ash looked at each other before they turned their attention back to the human teen. They had thought that maybe they should sign to her, but figured that it was best not to. It was most likely safer to let the humans keep believing that they were the unintelligent creatures that they were. That way Ash and Ray would keep themselves safe. For now. Lest they want a repeat of what happened back in their old home, to happen here as well. They tensed when the girl gave off a long sigh before leaning onto the wooden post next to their cage, looking off at the sunrise.

"You know… I don't know if you guys saw or even care. But there was a man yesterday who came into town. I didn't get his name but he seemed nice. The way he talks and stuff. Looks a little worn out for sure but-" Feliz paused, eyeing both Ash and Ray. "But I noticed that he kept on eyeing the both of you from afar. Before Jack and the others took him in for questioning. Do you two know him?" Feliz asked, meeting their stares. "I don't know what the man was doing out there or where he came from but from what I've heard, he's from somewhere far up north. Said that he was looking for a couple of friends."

At this Ash frowned and idley looked away, trying to not look concern while Ray did his best to look as neutral as possible in front of Feliz. After a quiet moment the teenage girl merely groaned as she stretched herself, her arms reaching high into the sky.

"Ah oh well. It doesn't matter now anyways. After all that shooting last night, Jack and the other's has put that guy on lockdown and are questioning him as we speak. But I wonder though, is he part of a raiding group? Or is there something else?" her voice now soft. "I heard from Carla that she had overheard the others saying they thought they saw several other apes out there, being chased by people on horses. Were they here for you guys? Were those other monk-, I mean apes coming here to rescue the both of you? With him?" She asked softly looking down at the unconscious chimpanzee a moment before meeting the other two apes' gaze once more. "Is that man that came in yesterday one of the hunters chasing you all?" Feliz asked earnestly.

At this new information, Ray and Ash glanced at each other before they turned their attention onto the sleeping Fox, puzzled by this new information. They both had known from Rocket that the apes were chasing them but humans, too? They knew for sure that Malcolm wasn't hunting them but Feliz did not know this. She only knew from what she had heard the other humans saying. That they saw humans riding on horses and chasing other apes in the dark. What was happening? And how long of a tail were they all dragging behind them to incur this?

Both Ash and Ray stared directly at each other before they slowly turned their attention back to the human teen, meeting her sincere gaze. Had they both made the wrong choice in not communicating with her? Should they try to talk to her? They hadn't only because it was for their own safety and Feliz hadn't given the best impression. But now Ash and Ray were unsure. Maybe Feliz could be trusted like Alex and Malcolm. Then maybe the could extend that invitation to Carla as well, if they saw the woman again.

"I'm sorry about all of this," Feliz whispered, turning her eyes away from them. "If I had know that this was going to happen I-"

"Feliz!"

Ash and Ray watched as the human teen jumped at the sound of her name before she turned around to face Jack as he was briskly walking up towards them.

"Yeah?" Feliz had answered the man.

"What are you doing out here with these guys? We need you in the east tower," Jack said gruffly. "Everybody worth a damn is out there chasing whoever came with that guy we locked up."

"Wait, where's Carla then?" Feliz asked.

"No need for you to worry. She said she wanted to talk to that Malcolm guy. For whatever it's worth. I still don't trust the guy… Anyways, we need you at the tower pronto," Jack answered.

"I should be out there too then," Feliz said to the older man.

"Well, that's not really my decision. Or yours," Jack answered the teen. "Not yours yet, anyways."

"Yeah," Feliz deflated, turning her eyes down to the side. "Fine," she finally grounded out and left, not without taking a backwards glance at the two apes watching her leave.

"If. She comes back," Ash suddenly spoke up when the two humans were a fair distance away, causing Ray to look at him. "We should. Tell her," he finished.

"Yes," Ray answered simply, turning to watch the humans as well.

If Blue Eyes, Rocket and Alexander were in trouble and were indeed being chased by unknown humans, as well as other apes too. Maybe they could convince Feliz and Carla to help them.

…

"I'm telling you. Whatever you guys saw out there. Those people. They're not with me," Malcolm tried again as he held onto the bars to his cell. "You have to believe me."

"Sorry man. I really want to believe ya. But we just can't take chances here. I mean a few of us find ourselves some of those monkeys. Then you show up the next day? Along with that, there's also gunfire that erupted in the night too. It'd be sort of hard press for us to just believe your story now," the man wearing the lime green plaid shirt answered back. "You're not in trouble with the folks from Diablo are you?"

"No. I don't even know that there's more people out here, but please, let me go." Malcolm tried again.

"No can do. Not until we figure out what's going on. You're behind bars for the time being," the man sighed. "We can't just take the chance man."

Heaving in defeat, Malcolm lowered his head, annoyed and saddened by the predicament that he was now in. Everything had gone so well yesterday too. They had brought him, cared for him even and he began to explain his situation to the people of Esperanza, telling them his story. Well… Most of it. He didn't want to mention the apes nor Alex, unless he can fully trust them. Then it all went to hell as, like the man in front of him had said, guns erupted in the night. With that they immediately locked him up and now here he was.

Hearing a door open, Malcolm lifted up his head to see a woman making her way into the room. She glanced around once before letting her dark brown eyes land upon the man in the plaid shirt.

"I can take it from here Remy," the woman said.

"I don't know Carla. This guy's hard to break. Either he's telling the truth or he's a fantastic liar. I don't know what's which is what with'em. Maybe he's crazy," Remy answered.

"That's why I'll talk to him," Carla responded calmly. "Now, thank you Remy. The others will be needing your help," she finished.

Remy pursed his lips to the side as he eyed Malcolm in the jail cell for a long moment before he exhaled loudly.

"Alright Carla. He's all yours. The guys will be out here if you need'em. Just give'em a holler," Remy said aloud before walking out of the room.

As the door shut behind Remy, Carla slowly turned around to meet Malcolm in the eyes. They both stared at each other for a long while before Carla slowly made her way towards the table that stood in the middle of the room.

"Malcolm, was it?" Carla asked simply.

"Yes," Malcolm answered with a sigh, leaning his back into the wall. "And you are Carla? Please. You've gotta believe me. I mean no harm to your people. I-"

Malcolm stopped as Carla held up a finger as she pulled out a familiar looking satchel from the side and placed it onto the table. She then opened it pulling out a map and unfolded it onto the table's surface, looking down at it all the while.

"Does this belong to you Mr. Malcolm?" Carla asked simply, tracing a finger upon the red line that marked the map.

"Yes. That map and satchel was on one of our horses," Malcolm answered back hesitantly.

"Our horses?" Carla replied, turning to look at Malcolm who froze. "I see you haven't been quite honest with us Mr. Malcolm," Carla continued. "We the people of Esperanza build our foundations upon trust. It's how things are here. How it has been and how it will always be."

Carla paused for a moment before making eye contact with Malcolm one more.

"Mr. Malcolm. If you do have good intentions and it does seem like you are a honestly good man from what I can tell. I'm going to need the full story if you want my help," Carla said slowly.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Malcolm breathed out.

Carla made a humming noise as she glanced down at the map and then met Malcolm's bright blue eyes with her dark brown ones once more. Taking in a deep breath, Malcolm closed his eyes for a long while thinking hard if this Carla could be trusted or not. But then what choice did he have? Maybe, with Carla's help, if she even believed him. He could get out of this and maybe free Ash and Ray.

"Alright. I'll tell you. But please, believe me that whatever I'm about to say is in no way any sort of lie," Malcolm said to the woman.

"Well then, I am all ears," Carla replied simply.

…

After Feliz and Jack had left them alone, Ash and Ray turned their heads when they noticed Fox stirring from his sleep. As the older chimpanzee opened his eyelids he glanced around himself. Fox's eyes widened when he saw both Ash and Ray, wincing before he touched a hand to the bloody spot on his head.

" _Where are we?_ " Fox signed to the other two apes as he brought his hand close to his face to look at it, seeing the light red stain on his fingers.

" _We're in a cage,_ " Ash hooted lightly and signing, looking around them before meeting Fox's eyes once more. " _Why-_ "

"Why Fox! Why did you try to kill us?" Ray cut Ash off and taking a step forward, towards the older chimpanzee.

Fox didn't answer, but sat up instead, rubbing at the wound on his head.

" _I fell off my horse. Hit my head,_ " Fox signed, more or less to himself, ignoring Ray who seemed to fumed more where he stood.

" _I can see that,_ " Ray signed back impatiently, irked that Fox was blatantly avoiding his question. " _You've been following us. Shooting at us. Why?_ " Ray continued.

Upon seeing this line of questioning, Fox's nostrils flared and and quickly stood up.

"Because we won!" Fox barked, noticing Ash tense up who quickly look around himself. " _We beat the humans. You were there with us when we did, Ray. You and your father-_ "

Ray immediately cut Fox off with a harsh clicking noise from his throat, followed by a low grumble.

" _Don't you dare talk about my father!_ " Ray signed back angrily with his teeth bared. " _He is dead because of Pope! Because Koba let his hatred of humans run rampant! Allowing Pope to use that to control him with his lies! And because Koba wanted apes to fight humans for his own revenge!_ "

Ash was now breathing quickly, concerned, as he looked around their cage. Both Ray and Fox's growls and constant yelling at each other were not heard by the humans as of yet but if someone were to come out and see them talking, all would be ruin for them. Or worse… Desperately turning back to the other he hooted lowly to get their attention while fanning his hands to keep their voices down.

"Caesar is weak!" Fox hissed back at Ray. "Stupid! He put. His precious humans. Above us apes. He let. Them go! Even. After they tried. To kill us! Now. They come back. To kill us. Again! Caesar. Should not rule. Apes! Does not. Deserve. To lead apes! He will not-"

Fox then stopped himself, as if realizing he was saying too much in front of the other two younger apes. He then closed his mouth into a thin line and glared away from both Ash and Ray. This however prompted the two younger apes to look at each other before they slowly turned their attention back towards Fox.

"Pope. And Koba. Dead… Who Is. Your leader. Now?" Ash asked, his mouth slowly forming into a frown as his eyes hardened at the older chimp.

Fox didn't answer, instead he kept his gaze low and down to the side, avoiding both Ash and Ray's searching eyes.

"He does. Not know," Ray said aloud with a scoff to his voice, prompting the older chimpanzee to shoot him a glare. "Useless."

"I do know!" Fox answered back with his teeth bared. "It does not matter. Blue Eyes die. You both die. Real apes live." Fox finished.

"You won't either!" Ray snarled back.

Before Ash could stop the younger orangutan, Ray had launched himself at Fox, swinging his right closed fist, colliding it with the older chimpanzee's face. Stunned for a moment by the sudden attack from Ray, Fox then screeched loudly and jumped at the younger red haired ape, tackling the younger orangutan onto the ground of their cage, knocking Ash aside in the process.

The two apes quickly swung at each other, arms gripping, hands flailing and smashing into flesh. Ash tried to intervened but was immediately kicked in the abdomen by the flailing limbs and fell a little bit away from the two fighting apes. As Ray and Fox continued to beat at each other the two slammed themselves into the side of the wooden cage, so hard that it's corners lifted from the ground before landing with a thud again.

Huffing, Ash slowly got back up while rubbing spot on his torso where he was kicked and then froze when he heard Ray howling in pain. Quickly looking on over to where the other two were, Ash's eyes widened when he saw Fox standing over the small red haired ape, burying his long canines into Ray's arm, drawing bright crimson blood. The younger orangutan, desperately trying to push off the bigger chimpanzee but Fox would not budge, his green eyes blazing with deep seated anger. Upon seeing this, Ash immediately jumped in, balling up his fist and smashing his knuckles right into Fox's snout, causing the older chimpanzee to let go of Ray with a sneeze. In that brief moment, Ash took a hold of Fox's waist and swung with all his might, slamming the bigger chimpanzee into the opposite side of their cage, finally causing it to tople, along with them.

As Ash fell along with the cage, he was just about to get up when he saw Fox reeling back his right foot and then thrusting it forward, connecting it with the side of his head with a loud crack. The blow was so strong that it caused Ash to see sunspots for a moment. Unfortunately due to him not having recovering from his incident with the bison, Fox's kick to his head, nearly caused him to black out as well. All of a sudden, Ash was turned around and gasped as he felt powerful blows upon his chest and stomach, then the rest of his body as well.

The next thing Ash knew was that he was suddenly dragged away by something tightly wrapping around his neck, causing him to unable to breathe. As he gasped for air, his vision started to fade, unable to understand what was going on. Then all of a suddenly he felt his body hitting the ground again and then sweet fresh air filled his lungs once more.

Heaving heavily, Ash's eyes darted around, trying to figure out what had just happened to him. As he slowly regained consciousness, he grunted to himself painfully before he pushed himself back up onto his feet. Reaching out, Ash leaned onto the side and noticed that he was was still in their wooden cage. Coughing to himself, Ash reached up and rubbed at his sore neck, slowly looking around to see what had happened to them. As he surveyed his surroundings Ash found that Ray was still in the wooden cage with him, while Fox bound in arms and legs to a post nearby. Reaching up to rub at his sore neck, Ash glanced around to see Carla, sitting next to their cage, along with a few other humans as they tended to Ray's wounds by cleaning his cuts with a foul smelling liquid that caused the young orangutan to screech and hiss in pain. Coughing to clear his throat, Ash turned his head as he heard someone approaching him, seeing that it was none other than Feliz.

"I… Guess he's not your brother after all," the teen girl said aloud as she looked from the two apes that seemed similar to each other. "Or at least, not a very good one," she finished turning to look at the ape in the cage who met her eyes as he rubbed at his throat.

…

Crouching low in the frigid river, Blue Eyes couldn't help but shudder and breathed haggardly, each breath feeling like he was being stung with sharp spears. He, Rocket and Alexander had managed to lose their chasers in the dark, taking refuge the shallow of a stream, knowing well that the other apes would not dare lead their horses at night. He, Rocket and Alexander were no longer running from Aghoo, Bon and Stripe, but from the humans, who carried the lights with them. A few of them were mounted on horses but most of the humans that gave chase in the night, did so by foot. The humans traveled a lot better on their legs than apes did, but apes were much better at concealing themselves, using the darkness and the trees to their advantage.

Eventually the three of them had moved on from the frigid waters of the river and taken refuge within the trees when the smallest bits of blue started to color the sky. Of course they had to provide extra cover for Alexander and help the teen into the tree they got in, but that was merely a minor problem for both Blue Eyes and Rocket as they hauled the human like he weighed nothing to them. Once, by dawn the three of them were in unknown territory.

"You guys think the humans gave up chasing us?" Alexander breathed quietly into the air as he leaned his back into the tree to balance himself.

"Maybe," Blue Eyes answered as he quickly looked around.

Blue Eyes then saw Rocket starting to sign something but then paused and dropped his arms, instead picking at the small twigs and leaves from his fur.

"Uncle Rocket?" Blue Eyes questioned, gaining Rocket's half stare before he continued to groom his fur.

The older chimp however was still silent but for some reason Blue Eyes had a feeling of what Rocket was going to say.

" _You think we should return to my father. Don't you? Tell him what we have learned on this journey,_ " Blue Eyes gestured.

It was silent between the three of them, Alexander not quite understanding all of the signs, but enough to get the minor gist of it. Eventually Rocket heaved out a tired breath.

"Yes," Rocket answered back finally. " _Your father should know about these humans with the lights. He should know about the apes that are chasing us. The ones that still follow Pope and Koba. The ones that are plotting against him,_ " Rocket growled with every hand sign.

Blue Eyes met Rocket's gaze and the two simply stared at each other for a long while, while Alexander looked from one ape to the other.

"Guys what's going on-"

"I agree," Blue Eyes cut off Alexander, causing him to frown in the process. "That is why. You will go. Return to my father. Tell him," Blue Eyes said while pointing at the older chimp while Alexander's mouth hung open slightly.

" _No Blue Eyes. The two… Three of us should return,_ " Rocket gestured with a huff.

" _I'm not going to leave Ray and Ash here,_ " Blue Eyes gestured back.

At this, Rocket's frown deepened at the young prince, actually causing Blue Eyes to submit a little.

" _How do you think I feel?_ " Rocket growled while signing. " _You don't think I care for Ash nor Ray?_ " he continued with his teeth slightly bared.

" _That's not what I meant,_ " Blue Eyes defended himself but was quickly silenced by a bark from the older chimp, loud enough to even cause Alexander to stiffen up.

After a few tense moments, Rocket closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, calming himself, before opening them again, meeting Blue Eyes' gaze. The older chimpanzee then straightened his back and reached out to tap Blue Eyes once on the arm and then tap him on the cheek, before reaching back to his own chest and made a circular motion with a closed fist.

" _Sorry Blue Eyes,_ " Rocket gestured. " _Have to think hard. Anger easily. Can't control sometimes. I understand that you did not mean to say that._ "

Blue Eyes heaved out a relieved breath but lowered his gaze as well, mimicking Rocket's gesture too.

" _I'm also sorry uncle. Did not mean that,_ " Blue Eyes signed back with Rocket nodding slowly.

The two chimps was silent for a little while before they both began to sign at each other again.

"Even if I go… If I do go. You both. Will not. Be able. To free them," Rocket started, turning his sights from both Blue Eyes and Alexander. "Humans. Will be on. Watch."

"Maybe," Blue Eyes answered back but then had a thoughtful look. "Maybe not. But we must try," Blue Eyes said back to the older chimp.

Rocket sat back and scratched at his neck, considering their options for a moment.

" _How about you both go back to your father and I will free Ash, Ray and Malcolm,_ " Rocket suggested.

" _No uncle. My father said that I was to lead. This is my decision. You will go. Alexander and I will free the others,_ " Blue Eyes gestured back.

At this Rocket frowned, his body tensing.

" _Your father will not be happy with just me returning without you,_ " Rocket signed back. " _And I am not happy leaving you youngsters, especially Ash._ "

"I know," Blue Eyes cooed quietly, casting his gaze downwards before meeting Rocket's eyes once more. " _But it cannot be helped. We must do this in order to have a better future. To save everyone,_ " Blue Eyes signed quickly before he lifted the strap to his gun and handed it to Rocket.

Rocket took the weapon and then slowly met Alexander's eyes who was still looking back and forth between him and Blue Eyes.

"You guys want to fill me in here? I didn't quite catch all of what you guys signed," the human teen asked hesitantly.

" _What about Bon, Stripe and Aghoo? How would you two hide from them?_ " Rocket signed to Blue Eyes instead.

" _We'll find a way. We were careless,_ " Blue Eyes started then frowned in on himself. " _I was careless… They must have heard our guns when we were shooting at wolves. Bringing them to that place. Found our trail and followed it. I'll be more careful this time. With Alexander,_ " Blue Eyes huffed.

Glancing back up at his uncle, Blue Eyes could see the struggle within the older ape's eyes. He knew that the older chimpanzee did not want to leave them, especially leaving Ash behind. But they really had no choice. His father must know what is going on. What is happening down here in the south.

Finally Rocket had let out a deep heave, turning to face the younger chimpanzee. Rocket stared instensely at Blue Eyes. His features softening, Rocket then cupped the back of Blue Eyes' head and brought their foreheads together.

"Stay hidden. Both. Of you," Rocket said quietly, before he pulled back and met both Alexander's and Blue Eyes' gaze.

"Wait what?" Alexander perked up when he heard Rocket saying this.

Before the human teen could ask more though, Rocket had strapped Blue Eyes' rifle onto his back, leaped out of the tree they were hiding in and quickly bounded off downstream, without a second glance back at them. Upon seeing Rocket taking his leave, Blue Eyes suddenly felt so alone now. Ever since they had been on this journey Blue Eyes had always relied on Rocket. Sure, he was made leader by his father but Rocket was the true ape who had been leading the group. The one to go to for guidance and ask on what to do. While Blue Eyes and the others merely sat back and observed, trying to learn from the older chimp's ways. Now that he's gone… Blue Eyes really had no one else to help guide him.

"Blue Eyes? Is Rocket really leaving us?" Alexander asked hesitantly.

Blue Eyes kept his gaze upon the bounding grey colored chimpanzee until he could no longer see him. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Blue Eyes slowly turned to face Alexander before he offered the human teen a small smile.

"Come. We must go," Blue Eyes said slowly before he made his way slowly down the tree and waited for Alexander to follow.

As soon as Alexander landed next to Blue Eyes, the two of them looked around their surroundings briefly before they silently set off in the direction towards the human town. While they made their way back, Blue Eyes had explained to Alexander of what he and Rocket hand planned. Making their way back to hopefully rescue Ash, Ray and Malcolm the two were careful to cover their tracks and Alexander had given his weapon to Blue Eyes, knowing for sure that the ape had much more experience with it than he ever did.

...

It was about mid-morning the next day when both Alexander and Blue Eyes made it back to the human town finally. The two of them reaching the lip of a hillside and peering over it. There they could make out the cage that held Ash and Ray, but something didn't seem right to the both of them. Upon closer observation both Blue Eyes and Alexander's heart dropped.

The cage was empty.

So shocked by what they had just learned, Blue Eyes perked up when he heard the slightest of sounds behind him. He turned quickly only to freeze when the end of a barrel was pointed right at his face, a human standing right behind the weapon.

"Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn't if I were you," the human warned, looking down at Blue Eyes before they eyed Alexander who had also turned around, frozen at what he's seen as well.

Breathing heavily, Blue Eyes looked at the end of the barrel next to his face before he turned his sights up at the human once more. At this he could swear he's seen this human before. He wasn't entirely sure but he believed that this was the loud mouthed human female he saw the other day, defending and feeding Ash and Ray.

"Well, well well. I guess I had it right," the female human said aloud with a big grin to her face.

The girl's eyes darted and she quickly pointed her gun at Alexander and just as Blue Eyes was about to make a move the human stuck the end of her rifle right back into his face once more, underestimating how fast her movements were.

"I sure hope you can understand me," the human female said as she cocked her gun. "Because if you don't put down your gun down right now. I'm going to have to shoot you," the girl warned as she made eye contact with Blue Eyes. "I don't want to, but I will."

As Blue Eyes observed the human female, he could see that she held the rifle with quite the authority behind it. If she had wanted to, she could have killed both him and Alexander before they even knew that she had snuck up on them. If she had wanted to, but for some reason she didn't.

After a few tense moments, Blue Eyes reluctantly put the gun down to his side.

"Holy crap!," the human female exclaimed. "You really do understand me, don't you?"

Blue Eyes heaved silently at himself. He felt a little stupid. The first humans he'd met had shown a great deal of surprise that apes understood language. Why should these be any different? Blue Eyes had thought that maybe Ash and Ray had had a conversation with this human female but now just realized that they were playing dumb to the girl, for whatever reason.

He could still try the same thing as Ash and Ray but-

"P-please don't shoot him," Alexander suddenly spoke up, causing all heads to turn towards him. "H-he's really not that dangerous. S-so don't shoot him," Alexander stuttered. "Please?"

Blue Eyes watched as the human female cocked a brow ridge at Alexander.

"Not if he doesn't do anything funny. Anyways, what is he to you? Are you chasing him? Is he your pet monkey or something?" the female asked, causing Blue Eyes to furrow his brows and bare his fangs at her. "Hey!" the girl raised her gun again.

" _I understand you,_ " Blue Eyes signed at the girl angrily.

The human female's eyes narrowed at Blue Eyes. "What's with the hands? Is that suppose to mean something?" she asked.

"He says-"

"I. Understand. You," Blue Eyes grounded out, uncaring if he interrupted Alexander.

Immediately the human female jumped back as if something had struck or stung her, her mouth open wide in a big "O," almost as big as her eyes. The reaction from the human female was quite comical to see. No doubt if Ash were here, the white flecked chimpanzee would have doubled over in sheer laughter, Blue Eyes realized.

"Holy crap!" the human female exclaimed aloud. "I-I mean holy cow. I'm not supposed to swear…" The girl deflated momentarily as she looked away.

At this, Blue Eyes turned to Alexander who looked just as confused as he was, shrugging his shoulders all the while, before turning back towards the human female.

"I thought something was kinda fishy with the other monkeys!" the girl said aloud. "I swear. I thought I was going crazy. Hearing voices that weren't there. But now it all makes sense," the human female continued as she paced back and forth in front of the two, but still kept her weapon at the ready.

"Uh, what?" Alexander asked hesitantly.

"The other two! The ones we found all knocked out with the bison, by the river, back over yonder. You're both looking for them right? Like that man said?" the human girl continued.

"Man?" Alexander said softly.

"Yeah the bloke that came in yesterday," the girl answered.

"That's my dad!" Alexander exclaimed.

"Your dad?" the girl questioned.

"We looking," Blue Eyes answered quickly. " For friends."

"Wait friends? The third monkey too right? The one that fell down the hill?" the teen female asked.

It was at this moment, Blue Eyes realized that the human female must be talking about Fox, who had fell down the hill.

"My dad. Did he tell you about the apes? Where is he?" Alexander asked the girl.

Well… He didn't talk to me exactly. But he did talk to Carla… Wait a minute! Why am I even telling you this?" the girl said aloud.

While the two humans were busy chatting with each other, Blue Eyes placed his hand upon the soil and brushed it back, clearing it, turning it to a blank canvas. He then drew six line figures in the dirt before turning up to meet the human female's eyes as she had paused to see what he was doing.

"Blue Eyes," Blue Eyes said aloud, pointing to the first mark before pointing to himself, "Blue Eyes."

The girl looked down at the line and back at Blue Eyes several times before she nodded slowly, understanding that he was referring to himself at the first marker.

"Alex," Blue Eyes pointed to the next line and then pointed to Alexander by his side who waved at the human female before he continued. "Rocket. Malcolm. Ash and Ray." As he mentioned the last two names, Blue Eyes then pointed from the two dots into the direction of the cage in the center of the square.

"Lost Ash and Ray… With bison," Blue Eyes explained quietly, his eyes upon the cage in the distance before slowly turning to meet the girl again. " Malcolm. Alex father. Go and help. But not return," he finished.

The human female narrowed her eyes and then eyed the both of them for a long time, thinking hard on what she had just learned from Blue Eyes.

"So… Ash and Ray are the two fellows we found?" The girl asked. "The chimpanzee and orangutan? If I remember correctly."

"Yes," Alexander perked up this time. " Those two are the ones we've been looking for. Like Blue Eyes here had said. Ash is the chimpanzee, Ray's the orangutan. My dad. He came into your town to hopefully get them back. But we haven't seen him. Do you know where they all are?" Alexander asked, worry lacing his voice.

"This is so freaking weird…" the girl groaned as she scratched the back of her head and dragging a hand down her face, before turning to look straight at Alexander, causing him to flinch. "You! Explain in full detail of what is going on." She ordered with a pointing finger.

"M-me?" Alexander asked.

"Yes you, who else? Ape boy here just gave me the bare minimum, I need all of this in full. So start talking," the girl said aloud.

Blue Eyes this time watched from between the two humans as Alexander went into a flurry of details in his explanation to the human girl. Blue Eyes honestly was quite lost upon the string of language that flowed out of Alexander's mouth. But the human girl seemed to be keeping up just fine, nodding her head every now and then at what she heard.

"Wait hold on!" the human girl suddenly said aloud, cutting Alexander off for the upteenth time. "You're telling me. That the guys Jack and the others have been chasing - the ones on the horses- are apes too?"

Blue Eyes and Alexander looked at each other momentarily before they turned their heads back to the human female and nodded at the same time.

"Well how 'bout that? Don't that beat it all to hell! Oh! I mean heck," the human female laughed out loudly confusing the two. "Oh gosh! I can't wait to see their faces when they find out that they've been chasing apes instead of people!" she continued.

"People," Blue Eyes grumbled, tapping his chest, a stern frown upon his lips.

"Oh, right. Don't mean any offense by that," the human female quickly apologized before turning to look at Alex. "He knows what I mean right?" she asked to which Alexander shrugged his shoulders at her. "Ugh, whatever. What I mean is. I've never dealt with talking monkeys before."

"Apes," Blue Eyes corrected with a frown, annoyed by the human girl constantly calling him the wrong species.

"Yeah that, you get what I mean. So you all came to get this Ash and Ray, but not the other one?" the human girl asked.

"Yes," Blue Eyes breathed back, looking away with a slight growl as Fox came to his mind.

"Like I said. They're not on the best terms with us right now," Alexander explained again.

Upon hearing this, the girl took in a deep breath and had let out a long exhale, confusing both Blue Eyes and Alexander.

"Ugh, this is so complicated. Problem is," the human female started. "They're gone. All of them. The apes I mean. The people from Diablo came by and got'em. Paid us good with supplies too," she frowned, noticing the two boys in front of her turning to look at each other with worriedly.

"And my dad?" Alex asked.

"Probably still locked up I guess. I don't see any reason the folks from Diablo would want him," the girl pondered on the spot.

"Where?" Blue Eyes asked, turning to look back up at the human female.

"I don't know where. Carla and I were against it, from the very beginning. Even if they offered all of those supplies. But you can't piss them off. The folks from Diablo I mean. We just can't risk it. They'll most likely cut off the power supply to our lights and stuff. And if they cut off the power-"

"People will start to get angry," Alexander finished for her, meeting her eyes.

From the sound and tone of the human female's voice, Blue Eyes understood most of it. Why they did it, but he couldn't just sit here and do nothing about it.

"Where they take them?" Blue Eyes suddenly asked.

"I told you. To Diablo," the human girl answered before he eyes suddenly went wide. "Wait. You're both not going there are you? It's suicide-"

"Ash!" Blue Eyes barked suddenly, cutting off the human female, looking her sternly in the eyes. "Ray. My friends... Please."

It was silent between the three of them and the human girl's opened mouth slowly pinched shut, with her brows lowering as she stared down at the blue eyed chimpanzee, looking rather desperate. The silence between the three of them stretched long and thin with nothing but the slight breeze to blow between the individuals.

"I out to turn the both of you in too," she said suddenly with a frown. "We can always use more supplies. And that way, at least you'd be with your buddies," she indicated at Blue Eyes. "And you with your father," she turned next to Alexander.

The girl then reached down and took their last gun between the two of them, swinging it over her shoulder.

"Come on you two," the girl said aloud as she lead the way.

Both Blue Eyes and Alexander looked at each other for a moment before they both slowly stood up and followed the other human teen.

"We didn't even get your name!" Alexander grumbled as he followed.

The girl paused and turned around, facing the two of them, her face indifferent and blank.

"Feliz," she said simply.

"Alexander. But you already knew that didn't you," Alex huffed with a frown.

"Blue Eyes," Blue Eyes introduced himself again with a low tone.

"Well, nice to meet you two. However short that was," Feliz answered back before turning herself around once more and lead them away.

Alex and Blue Eyes glanced at each other, both holding onto their heavy hearts. All had not go as they had planed and now they were in all sorts of trouble.

" _Sorry,_ " Alexander signed.

Blue Eyes offered Alex a small smile and shook his head at the human teen, knowing that their predicament was not his fault, nor anyone else's. But even then he couldn't hold his smile for long and with a sigh, he lowered his head and followed their captor, wherever she was leading them to.

* * *

 **Alrighty! Characters introduced in this chapter.**

 _ **Apes**_

 _Imani_ \- Fox's mother. (She doesn't really have a name, so I'm giving her one.)

 _ **Humans**_

 _Remy_ \- An OC. Not very important.


	30. Chapter 30

As the groups of apes had first set their feet back into the familiarity of the redwoods around them, Cornelia herself had let out a relieved breath. Happy to be back within the green safety of their home that had hid them from the eyes of humans for many a winters now. And upon that first night back within the forest the giant group of apes that consisted many females, their children, the Gorilla Guards and the wounded, slept soundlessly.

It was when morning came, did Cornelia and a few others woke up with a start at the sounds of snapping branches. The Gorilla Guards were quick to act as they all immediately stood up and surrounded the cluster of females and children, their weapons at the ready. The all looked around but couldn't see much due to the thick fog that was low within the forest. Then all heads turned when they heard the sounds coming closer and closer, the gorilla's slowly making their way towards the noise, bracing themselves for what's to come.

Suddenly a chimpanzee darted out of the fog, landing onto the forest floor with a thud, standing up quickly to look at them. The hairs on the heaving chimpanzee's body were mangy and wet with the morning dew, his big wild green eyes looking at them. Upon seeing the familiar chimp emerging from the fog, the gorillas all lowered their guns and spears, relieved to see one of their own but confused at the same time.

The chimpanzee stood tall and craned his neck while he was looking at the group, as if he were searching for something. Then two figures, both female, emerged from the cluster of apes, slowly making their way towards the male chimp. The group watched from afar as the three chimps eyed each other for a brief moment before the two females suddenly bolted towards the male chimp and threw their arms around him, hugging him tightly. The male returned the embrace just as strong, as he lovingly stroke his mate's hair and peppered his daughter with small kisses atop her head, all crying joyfully.

Cornelia couldn't help but smile, along with the rest of the apes as they watched Judy and Lake reuniting with Andy. Oh how much her heart ached for her husband and eldest son be by her side again. Standing up tall, Cornelia made her way on over to where the small family was, seeing how happy they were and how much the male had missed his own family after having been gone for so long. Blinking, Cornelia turned her head as another chimpanzee emerged from the fog, he too panting and huffing.

" _Jeanpierre,_ " Cornelia greeted.

" _Cornelia?_ " the older and grizzled chimpanzee signed back before he huffed and blinked in confusion, now noticing the large group of apes that stood before him.

" _What are you two doing out here?_ " Cornelia asked as she held her still sleeping Cornelius within her arms.

" _Andy,_ " Jeanpierre gestured back simply and Cornelia turned to look at the small family, understanding all she needed to know why the male apes were all the way out here and not with the rest of the forest group.

Cornelia and the other apes around her then turned their heads as Ajax, Red, Rex and Tinker approached them.

" _Where are the rest of the apes?_ " Ajax asked, seeing that only both Andy and Jeanpierre had come to meet them.

" _Still hidden. Deep within the forest. Safe,_ " Jeanpierre answered. " _What about here? Where is Caesar and other apes?_ " he then asked.

It was then Cornelia, along with Tinker, Ajax and Red, had recounted to the two chimps about the explosion that had occured within the human city. The one that brought down that human building. Informing both Jeanpierre and Andy that it was deemed too dangerous for the females and healers to stay behind, that they needed to go back into the forest.

Andy and Jeanpierre then relayed their story of coming back into the forest, several weeks prior, at behest of Caesar. They were to inform the apes that were still here in the Redwoods to stay and not come back into the human city, no matter what happened. This had also extended to Jeanpierre and Andy as well, to which the latter did not like but did as he was told nonetheless. Both of the males then informed Cornelia, Ajax and the others how, after the recent collapse of the human building that day prior, they had moved the rest of the apes deeper into the forest, away from the fighting.

" _Do Caesar and the others need our help?_ " Andy asked quickly.

" _No. Luca told me to tell you that whatever warriors that were here in the forest already. Were to stay here and help us protect the females and young. To wait until Caesar and the others return,_ " Ajax explained simply, gaining hesitant nods from the two other chimps.

" _Are there any humans here? Dangerous?_ " Tinker asked next hesitantly to which, Cornelia reached out and took a hold of her arm for comfort.

" _No Tinker. Have not seen humans here in the forest. But we must still be careful,_ " Andy answered the petite female.

" _Then what are we waiting for? Let us leave before the humans take notice of us,_ " Red stepped in this time. " _Hurry before humans sends soldiers into the forest too._ "

" _I agree. Come. We will lead the females back to the rest of the apes that are in hiding. Then we move again,_ " Jeanpierre gestured.

With that said between them, all of the apes slowly got up and followed the two chimpanzees deeper into the forest of their home, finally able to get away from the danger, if not for a little while.

…

As their cage bumped and jolsted around wildly, Ray couldn't help but glare at Fox who returned the look back a him to which Ash merely grumbled to himself quietly from one side. The three apes had been put into a new cage, this one made of heavy metals and cold metallic wire. Since their fight earlier, the humans had taken the precaution to bind the apes to each side of the cage so that they would not get to the other, lest they want another repeat of what had happened before. Their bounded wrists made it rather difficult to communicate with one another in hand signs and they didn't want to risk by alerting these new humans that they could speak. So both Ray and Fox settled instead to express themselves with facial expressions, whilst Ash merely deflated at the two frowning apes in front of him, wishing that they would stop in their animosity towards one then again, what was there left to say once someone had admitted that they wanted to kill you?

Watching both Ray and Fox continue to make frowning faces at each other, Ash couldn't help but look away from the both of them, letting his mind wander. While his thoughts escaped him, Ash thought back to when he was caged in that human town with the little ones.

He remembered when Carla had rubbed some strange smelling liquid onto his sore neck, causing the skin around it to warm up but in a good way, almost numbingly so.

"This will help," the human woman had said to Ash, as the young ape curiously touched at his neck.

"They're going being taken away," Feliz said in a small voice as she kept eyeing the apes and the people from Diablo.

Ash noticed Carla frowning as she too looked to where the other humans all stood. They were dressed funny. Covered from head to toe in a strange orange attire, that he's never seen before. He and Ray stared curiously as they spoke with the denizens of the town briefly but other than that they kept to themselves.

"We did what we could Feliz. But you know that the needs of the people here certainly outweighs the needs of a few," Carla explained as she gestured to the apes.

"But why though? Can't we… You know. Just let them go…?" Feliz asked in a quiet voice.

"Not anymore Feliz. You know what will happen if we don't offer these apes to the people of Diablo," Carla cautioned to the girl to which Feliz nodded slowly.

"I know… I just… Nevermind!" Feliz huffed before she stood up and was and was about to leave but stared directly at both Ash and Ray. "I'm sorry. Goodbye."

Before anything else could be said, both Ash and Ray watched as the girl quickly ran to the side, grabbed her rifle and bolted off into the distance, leaving them behind. Carla on other hand was still around, tending to their various wounds, even Fox's head wound before she was quite satisfied with what she's done.

"Stay strong now. All of you," Carla spoke to the three apes, confusing them. "You all need to be strong. Stay safe," the woman spoke softly.

Ash couldn't help himself as he tilted his head at Carla, trying to figure out what she had meant. The woman however gave him a second glance before she stepped away and turned her head into the direction of the other humans. Before Ash new it, the door to his cage was suddenly ripped open and both he and Ray were dragged away with some strange stick that had a wire at the end of it, looping over their heads. They were forced away and were quickly put into a new cage. It was there where they had their limbs bound, just in case they were to get rowdy. Desperately looking back around himself, Ash could see Carla worriedly watching him from afar, a hand to her mouth.

"H-help," Ash tried to mouth to the woman but a tarp was suddenly thrown around the cage, shutting him in within the cage and out from the world.

With a huff, Ash leaned his head onto the bars of the cage as the truck that he was now in, sputtered and jolted while it drove across the roads.

The three apes didn't know how long they had been traveling for but it felt like it was forever, causing Ray to feel a little sick, due to all the bumps and rough jostling of the truck they were in. Ash felt like he was going to spill out his insides as the ride continued and Fox on the other didn't show an ounce of discomfort on his face. But both Ash and Ray knew better that the older chimpanzee was quite sick of the moving vehicle as well. They could see it within Fox's eyes and by the bristling of hairs on his body. It did not help that the trip got worse as well, towards the end of it at least, with the bumps and jolting becoming progressively rougher and rougher.

Eventually the truck had finally slowed down to a stop with Ash, Fox and Ray all letting out a unified groan, glad that the shakings had finally ceased. The three apes couldn't see where they were but they could definitely guess. The could taste the salty sea breeze as it blew lightly into the tarp that covered their cage. They could hear the sea birds crying in the distance, as well as the slight crashes of the ocean's waves upon the the rocky shore. They were definitely by the ocean, that much they could tell.

In their brief moment of serene rest the sounds of doors closing, caused them all to jump. Warily the three apes glanced around themselves as they could hear footsteps all around them. Then they felt their cage being lifted by the humans and was then carried off somewhere. While being carried off to wherever they were being transported to, Ash, Ray and Fox worriedly glanced at each other, wondering on what the humans were going to do to them. While being carried the smell of the sea and the soft winds that carried the sounds suddenly disappeared all around them, replaced by a sort of hollowing echo sound. This strange new sound was something the apes themselves had never heard before. If they were to guess the sound that was being made was like as if they were placed within a sea-shell or an empty can that reverberated all over the walls, up down left and right of them. The three apes couldn't see what was outside, due to the tarp that covered their cage but they did see light that shone through the opening of the flaps. But this light was different. It didn't feel nor look like natural sunlight, much too white in color and small hints of blue within it. When their cage was finally put down onto the ground the tarp covering them finally came off, causing the apes to shut their eyes in pain, their vision suddenly assaulted by the blinding white light.

Ash groaned to himself and blinked the blurriness away from his eyes, he froze when he heard Ray letting out a painful screech. Craning his head around to look at the orangutan, Ash's eyes adjusted and he could now see Ray trying to back away from the human who was now standing and taking a step away from the still screeching orangutan, something within their hands. Ash hooted worriedly at Ray whilst Fox barked and growled at the humans. So distracted to Ray's cries of pain, Ash did not notice one of the humans approaching him too before it was too late. He suddenly felt a something sharp sticking into his arm painfully, enough to cause himself to screech in pain as he tried to move away from whatever was causing him such discomfort. He flinched when the object was quickly moved out of his skin and tried yet again to move away from the human that had hurt him. After calming down a bit and feeling that sharp pain turn into an aching throb, Ash glanced around himself once more, wondering as to why the humans were hurting them. He then watched as the human did the same to Fox. Sticking something into the older chimpanzee's arm who barked and snapped his jowls at the humans before they quickly yanked the thing away from Fox.

Panting worriedly, Ash rounded his head back to where Ray was and noticed that the orangutan was now no longer screeching in pain, but instead leaning heavily onto the metal bars. Ash was about to hoot at Ray, to get his attention when he felt a sudden drowsiness hitting him like a tremendous wave, causing his head to dip once before he raised it back up again. At first he didn't understand what was going on, only knowing that now he just felt extremely tired for some reason. With a huff, Ash turned back to look at Ray and now noticed the orangutan fully sliding down on his side of the cage and slumping over in a heap. Ash tried to force his limbs to move but they stopped doing what he wanted them to do, feeling more tired than before with every passing second. Soon enough his legs faltered and Ash slowly slid down to the ground on his side of the cage as well. Trying to blink the sleepiness away from his eyes, Ash glanced back to where Ray was and noticed that the younger ape was now in a deep sleep, his steady breathing filling the air while Fox was barking loudly next to them. Letting his eyes wander back up, Ash could see the humans staring back down at them, watching them silently as if they were waiting for them. Soon enough, He couldn't let his eyes open any longer and with a few more blinks, he allowed sleep to take him, the last things he heard was Fox's weakening barks in the distance.

…

As soon as the group of females and Gorilla Guards reached the inner sanctuary where the rest of the apes were located in, they were all warmly welcomed back by the rest of the colony. Happy hoots sounded throughout the area as families, mothers, fathers, lovers and other close kin were reunited. All greeting each other happily. Even though the time was dire and dangerous, this moment of rest and greeting was a welcomed one, a joyful occasion for apes who haven't seen each other since their separation many a sun cycles ago.

It may be a merry moment for most apes, but for others it wasn't so, this being Juno who stood off to the side and glowered. Juno watched his sister-in-law - Oaka, greeting her mother happily from off to the side. He couldn't help but huff aloud to himself as he then decided to sit upon one of the fallen logs. The withered armed chimp was then slowly embraced from behind, causing him to yelp in surprise, turning around quickly to see who it was that had snuck up on him. Upon seeing who it was, Juno quickly deflated and harraumped himself back onto the log.

The female that had surprised Juno had let out a small hoot of laughter as she eased herself down next to the younger male and hugged him.

" _Juno. What is the matter?_ " Pauleen signed to her youngest, as she placed a finger under her son's chin and turned him so that he met her gaze, before tenderly grooming his disheveled hairs.

" _Why did I have to come back here mother? I can fight with father and brothers. Help Caesar,_ " Juno signed back indignantly.

" _Juno. You know why your father and brothers sent you here with us,_ " Pauleen tried to console her youngest.

"Father and brothers. Think I am weak," Juno grumbled silently as he pulled his knees close to him. " _They think I can't look out for myself._ "

Pauleen frowned down at her youngest but reached out and continued to groom her Juno all the while, ignoring his little huffs of anger.

" _Your father and brothers are only trying to keep you safe you know,_ " Pauleen explained slowly.

" _Not Tola!_ " Juno snapped, his hands signing violently. " _Tola doesn't care,_ " he continued to fume. " _Thinks I'm weak._ "

At this, Pauleen couldn't help but let out a sigh. Her eldest could be… Difficult sometimes and she didn't know where she had gone wrong in raising him. But Tola had grown to be a fine and strong chimpanzee, but his attitude of having only strong apes was quite troubling to her. But she could only do so much.

" _You know your brother Tola. He can be... Rather difficult. But he does love you and the rest of the apes,_ " Pauleen signed.

" _I don't think so mother,"_ Juno replied with a frown. " _Tola only acts nice when you and father are around._ "

At this Pauleen paused in her grooming to look at her youngest.

" _Well, if Tola would not be kind to you then you also have Bryn. Bryn loves you too,_ " Pauleen gestured.

" _Bryn sometimes not nice either._ " Juno signed, " _mean to me too,_ " he explained to his mother.

Juno then paused, a look of confusion on his face.

" _But then he would apologize,_ " Juno signed slowly. " _Sometimes I think he is not all there. Like he is different ape._ " he concluded.

" _What do you mean Juno?_ " Pauleen questioned, now more concerned about her children.

Juno turned to meet his mother's eyes, seeing the look of concern set within those dark green orbs of hers. He hesitated, like he wanted to say more to her. Then suddenly his demeanor changed as Juno merely let out a series of pant laughs, surprising the older female.

" _Scared you didn't I?_ " Juno chuckled.

Pauleen blinked several times before she had a scowl upon her features and lightly smacked Juno on the shoulder.

" _Juno, do not scare me like that,_ " Pauleen signed to her youngest son, not at all amused by his little jest.

" _Sorry mother. You surprised me first, so I wanted to scare you too,_ " Juno smiled.

The withered arm chimpanzee then frowned slightly before he offered the older female a sad smile.

" _Sorry, didn't mean to worry you mother. Just thinking lots of things. Sometimes think too much and say things that do not make sense,_ " Juno signed slowly to his mother, hopefully calming her.

The older female grunted in anger but she quickly deflated as she observed the genuine smile upon her youngest son.

" _Oh Juno. Do not scare me like that. I am worried enough as it is,_ " Pauleen signed to the younger male as she pulled the lanky chimp in close and hugged him tightly.

While in his mother's arms, Juno couldn't help but let out a small cooing noise, happy to be held by her, like she did many a times, even after he had grown much too big for her to do so. But Pauleen did not care, for Juno would be her one and only special son. One that she cared very much for.

It was this moment that Oaka had came over while holding onto her big stomach that contained both hers and Bryn's child. The heavily pregnant female huffed quietly before she straightened herself out and looked down at her two extended family members. Pauleen had then slowly stood up and approached Oaka, placing a comforting hand upon her daughter-in-law's shoulder.

" _Are you alright? In pain?_ " Pauleen asked worriedly to which Oaka merely waived off with a hand.

" _Just tired, but I will be fine,_ " Oaka explained. " _I think the others need you,_ " she gestured to the older female.

Pauleen perked up at this, but nodded. She then turned to look at Juno and reached out to take a hold of his hand.

" _Watch out for Oaka, Juno. Keep her well,_ " Pauleen asked of her son.

" _I will mother. Keep her safe,_ " Juno promised.

" _You be safe too,_ " Pauleen gestured back as she hugged her Juno.

As Pauleen left the two of them alone, Oaka slowly turned her head towards her younger brother-in-law, narrowing her eyes at him. Juno had taken notice of this from Oaka, and hesitantly turned to look at her.

" _Something wrong?_ " Juno asked.

Oaka frowned at Juno whom eased away from the female's intense glare.

"Juno. You must think. Before you speak," Oaka huffed out. " _You made your mother worry about things that are not important right now,_ " she gestured.

At this, Juno whimpered and lowered his head. He then felt a finger under his chin, lifting his face up, so that he was staring into his immediate sister-in-law's eyes.

" _You know deep down why your father and brothers have sent you here with us. You are not needed there, in the human city. But are needed very much here instead,_ " Oaka reassured. "Understand?"

At this, Juno huffed but nodded. Oaka took in a deep breath but smiled at the other male, reaching out to place a comforting hand upon the male's shoulder.

" _Juno. You are like a little brother that I never had. I don't want to see you hurt,_ " Oaka signed.

Juno took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, nodding.

" _I know,_ " he signed back.

All of a sudden, Oaka faltered and Juno was quick to react as he reached out to hold onto her, letting out small worried hoots all the while.

"Oaka hurt?" Juno said in a worried voice.

" _Sorry. Just tired and… Yes, have stomach pains,_ " Oaka signed back, huffing all the while, as Juno helped her sit down. " _Very strong baby,_ " she finished.

Juno looked up and down the heavily pregnant Oaka before placing a comforting hand upon her shoulder. He then met Oaka's eyes before he slowly reached out and placed a gentle hand upon her distended abdomen, feeling the strong movements underneath the skin.

"Strong baby. Indeed," Juno spoke quietly, beaming all the while.

Oaka then reached down as well and rubbed her stomach feeling her child within her a motherly smile upon her features.

"Stay here. I find roots. To help with pain," Juno said softly.

At this, Oaka turned towards Juno and reached up, to touch his arm gently.

"See. This why. Juno is. Here," Oaka panted tiredly.

At Oaka's words, Juno slowly turned back to face the heavily pregnant female and took her hands, smiling tenderly at her.

"I will. Be back. Soon," Juno promised her to which Oaka tiredly nodded at him.

With that said and done, Juno quickly stood back up before he spun around and bounded off in the direction that would contain the roots for stomach pains.

...

Malcolm sat there all alone within his cell with no one else there to keep him company. After he had told Carla about everything, from the apes to the battle of in San Francisco, the approach of the soldiers from the north and the purpose of their journey the older woman had contemplated silently to herself before the noise from outside had drew their attention. Carla had apologized and excused herself from the room, leaving Malcolm there. That had been hours ago. And now here he was, stuck here with nothing but the silence to keep him company. Oh how he should have never left Alexander and the other apes.

He didn't know when he had dozed off but eventually the sound of the door opening had woken Malcolm from his slumber, causing him to groggily turn around to see whoever it was that had entered the room. To his surprise, he saw that it was none other than Carla, who hurried to one side of the room, not without grabbing the map, picked up a familiar looking bag from the ground and walked on over towards his cage. Malcolm sat up straight this time, wondering what Carla was going to do but was genuinely surprised when he saw the woman taking out a ring of keys and unlocked the door to his cell.

"What are you doing?" Malcolm asked hesitantly, turning to look at Carla as she pulled the door open.

"They took the apes. The people from Diablo," Carla spoke quickly before handing the bag towards Malcolm. "Come. we must hurry before they notice," she finished.

Taking the bag, Malcolm slung it over his shoulder and immediately followed Carla out of the room. He was quite surprised by how fast the older woman in front of him moved but was curious to see that there were no guards that stood watch.

"Where is everyone? Malcolm asked as he followed Carla.

"Everyone else is out there, dividing the supplies that we acquired in the trade," Carla answered with a sigh to her voice. "The trade of your friends," Carla answered gravely.

At this, Malcolm stopped in his tracks, looking at the woman in front of him incredulously, not believing any word that she had just said to him.

"Y-you… You guys can't. They're… They're just kids," Malcolm huffed out.

Upon hearing the shock in the man's voice, Carla couldn't turned her dark brown eyes to the ground in front of them, unable to meet the man's gaze.

"I tried to talk the people out of making such a trade Mr. Malcolm. But the needs of this town the threat of the people from Diablo is very real. We just couldn't take that chance," Carla explained slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Then why didn't you just sell me off too then," Malcolm huffed back, throwing his arms into the air.

At this Carla turned back to look at Malcolm a small smile upon her features.

"Because you are needed," she said simply, causing Malcolm to become still at her words.

Soon enough Malcolm and Carla came upon a comfy looking house, just on the outskirts of the town. Walking up to the house, Carla slowly opened the door before turning around to look at Malcolm. Breathing slowly, Malcolm walked up towards the door and paused, turning to look at Carla.

"Go on. It's safe in there. I assure you," the woman said slowly.

Breathing deeply through his nose, Malcolm stilled his nerves and took a step inside the home. Nothing looked too out of the ordinary as he entered into what looked like a long hallway in front of him. Walking through it, Malcolm noticed that was an opening to the right of the hallway, which led into the living area. As he entered the room he was quite taken aback by what he saw. The room was simple with carpeted floors and neatly cleaned tables and furniture. However, what had shocked Malcolm though were the occupants within them, three in total and two of them were very familiar.

"Dad!" Alexander exclaimed from his spot on the couch, quickly rushing on over and throwing his arms around his father.

"Oh Alex. I'm so sorry. I should have never left you guys," Malcolm said aloud in a relieved voice as he held onto his son tightly.

"Its okay dad," Alexander breathed back.

Separating from Alexander, Malcolm turned and noticed Blue Eyes approaching as well, stoping a respectable distance away, staring at them. Then to the young chimpanzee's surprise, Malcolm had quickly closed the gap between them and embraced him too, holding onto him tightly and securely.

"I'm so glad your safe too, Blue" Malcolm said softly, feeling the ape tentatively reaching up to return his hug as well.

"Safe," Blue Eyes responded quietly with a smile on his lips as he separated from the man.

Wiping away at tears of joy from his eyes, Malcolm met both Alexander's and Blue Eyes' gazes before he noticed that someone else was missing. He then looked around himself once before he turned back to the two youngsters.

"Where's Rocket?" Malcolm asked, fearing the worst had happened to the nearly hairless chimpanzee.

Blue Eyes then took a step forwards towards Malcolm.

"Rocket. Go back to father. Warn Caesar about enemies," Blue Eyes informed in a hush.

Letting out a relieved breath, Malcolm then curiously met both Blue Eyes and Alexander's eyes once more.

"How did you two get here?" Malcolm asked.

"I did!" a new voice spoke up, causing all heads to turn to the girl who had just entered from the kitchen area.

"I'm sorry. We haven't met," Malcolm started before shaking his head. "Apologies. Where are my manners. My name is Malcolm. And you said that you helped these two Ms.?"

"The name's Feliz," the girl said aloud. "Yeah, these two are lucky I was there. If it were anyone else. They'd be shipped off to Diablo before you can blink!"

"Oh. Well thank you," Malcolm said softly to which the teen girl merely made a snorting sound and leaned onto the wall, with her arms crossed.

"We believe where they have taken your friends," Carla spoke up from behind all of them, causing the trio to turn and face her.

"Know where. Take friends?" Blue Eyes asked.

"Yes," Carla answered back the sky eyed chimpanzee before turning to face Malcolm. "What we did. Was wrong. But Feliz and I are going to make it right," Carla said aloud.

Malcolm blinked and turned to look at both Carla and Feliz, feeling hope fluttering within his chest before turning back to look at Carla.

"And how are we going to do that?" Malcolm asked hesitantly.

At the question, Carla merely offered Malcolm a smile in return.

...

There was a soft thud as Koba leaned onto the side of a wall for support. Closing his eyes in deep concentration, he was trying his best to not make a sound, lest it wakes up the human woman from her sleep, back within the open room.

It had been a couple of sun cycles since the explosion and building collapse within the human city had happened. Since that time, Ellie had deemed that it was safe enough to remove the cast around the bonobo's left leg. Once the thing had been removed from him, Koba had lightly tested himself by moving his limb around, testing it to see if there were any pains still. The human nurse had asked him to take it slow and to not rush himself, lest he wants to be couch ridden once more. Koba silently nodded back to the human woman and took her words to heart, knowing well that he did not need to be rushing things now, knowing that he was on the brink of being well enough to join the others again. But that didn't mean that he would try and get better himself as well.

Shaking the memory away from his mind, Koba grunted as he pushed himself off of the wall and resumed his journey through the rest of the household. Making his way through the empty hallways, Koba glanced about himself, noticing and seeing the many picture frames that hung around him. Pausing momentarily, Koba peered at one of the pictures and saw that it held a rather happy looking family there. Within the middle of that family though they held onto a very happy looking chimpanzee between all of them as well.

Caesar.

Koba huffed as he fondly looked at the image before he lowered his head down to the ground, frowning to himself as his own memories came into his mind. Memories of a darker past that still haunts him to this day.

Lingering on a little while longer with his dark thoughts, Koba roughly shook his head with a grunt and moved on, hoping to rid himself of these pains that still haunt him. By scouring the rest of the first floor of the household, Koba finally tried upstairs. As he climbed the first seven steps, he had to pause for a moment to catch his breath. Who knew that by not moving for so long would cause one to tire so fast? And he also didn't want to strain himself, remembering Ellie's warning about him pushing his body too far but he was sure that he could go on a little further. With that thought in mind, he determinedly moved forward.

The upper floor was had more or less housed the what seemed to be the sleeping areas for the humans of this household. Peeking into each and every room, Koba noticed that they were all differently decorated. One was filled with books and papers that were strewn about and another one was earthy colored in tone and was rather quite warming to be in. Stepping out into the hallway, Koba walked down it and turned towards his right to see a bookcase, still full of hardcovers of various works. Turning away from the bookcase though, Koba then saw a folding ladder that lead up into what looked like the attic; curiously he ascended the steps.

Entering the attic, Koba's breath was taken out of him. Walking through the room that looked a lot like a children's play area, he breathed quietly as he glanced about it. There were drawings and paintings of various things that were stuck to the walls, displaying a variety of bright his right stood a rather dusty piano; they even tuned when he had brought his hand down and pressed one of the keys. Continuing onward Koba could see a chained ball hanging down from the ceiling and in the middle of the room stood a small bed with a chessboard and it's pieces on it. What had caught his eye though, was the window of the room. Making his way towards it, Koba looked on in wonder as he could see the shape it took.

Caesar's symbol.

"Hope… Trust… Unity… Family…" Koba breathed softly aloud as he traced a finger along the frame, meeting each point of the diamond shaped star on the window.

While still marveling at the window, an ill thought suddenly crossed Koba's mind, causing him to frown deeply in on himself. He had hurt the apes, his only family, in more ways than one in his blind rage and vengeance. He had broken his closest friend's trust, especially Rocket and Ash's as he nearly killed the ladder in his blind rage of the young ape's unwavering loyalty to Caesar, who had disobeyed him in making the humans pay for what they did… To him. He was solely responsible for destroying the unity of the apes by leading them all into a false war because the mere thought of humans existing angered him. He had given up on hope the moment Caesar was taken away from them, from him… Replaced with a burning rage and hatred, causing him to not be able to think nor see straight, his vision filled with red. Like the burning flames that engulfed the human city that night.

Looking away from the window he balled up his fists and bared his fangs. How could he even think about facing them after what he's done? What he threw all the apes into.

While Koba stood there, thinking on what he had done to the apes, something out of the corner of his eye had caught his attention. Turning around, the scarred bonobo bared his fangs and snarled at whoever had dared to sneak up on him. He however blinked several times as he saw a familiar looking figure staring back at him. That figure was none other than he himself.

With a huff, Koba regulated his breathing and curiously approached the mirror that stood tall besides a wall, with a piece of fabric draped over it. Removing the cloth, Koba wiped the cool surface with the back of his arm, clearing it of the dust that had accumulated onto the mirror's surface over the years. Once that was done, Koba slowly took a step back to fully take a good look at himself. He noticed that he had lost a bit of weight as he lifted his left arm and could see some of his ribs poking out underneath the skin on his torso. Nothing a little food intake wouldn't fix. He couldn't help but frown at himself that along with the weight loss, he had also acquired more scars that decorated his body as well. Some big, some small, some even hard to see, like the one that ran down diagonally his back. While he was examining his body, something had caught Koba's eye, or rather that something was his eye.

His good eye.

Blinking unbelievably, Koba rounded himself back towards the mirror to look at that strange golden-green eye he now possessed. Huffing, he leaned in close to the mirror to take a long gander at it, wondering how he had attain such a new coloring? Was that why Luca and Maurice was staring at him so strangely for such a long time? After he had woken up? But how in the world did he recieve this coloring though? As he thought long and hard about it. Memories started to flow back into his mind, memories of the others talking and or signing. Talking with each other on what they did to Koba in order to heal him.

Caesar's blood.

Was this? It couldn't be? Koba breathed in on himself as he turned back to the mirror to look at his eye. Caesar's blood, it made sense now. Caesar gave him this eye through his blood. Gave him a second chance at life. But… Why?

Taking a step away from the mirror, Koba's leg bumped into the bed behind him, causing a few of the chess pieces to topple over. Looking down at the bed, Koba then noticed that here was a camcorder sitting on the surface of the old thing. He hadn't been curious about such human things before, but for some reason, the thing seemed so out of place, just sitting there among with the chess pieces, pillows and blankets.

Curiously, Koba then sat upon the springy mattress and flipped the side flap of the camera open. He had remembered fiddling with something like this before, drawing his memories back in the day while he was a lab rat and they would give him some things to test out. He pressed all of the buttons on the thing until the black screen of the side flap lit up blue with a beeping noise. Huffing, Koba could make out some of the letters and pictures but he merely grumbled to himself as he fiddled with the thing once more, trying to make it work. When he had pressed one of the buttons the bright blue screen of the flap suddenly came to life, with voices.

"Okay, Caesar. Look," the familiar looking man in the screen said as he got the attention of a very young Caesar, while they both sat at a table. "Apple. Apple," the man spoke aloud as he signed the word to Caesar.

Koba blinked as Caesar, who looked very young, would observe the older man and then repeat the gesture, eliciting a smile from the human.

"Good!" The human exclaimed before he slowly switched to another gesture. "Home. Home," the man said this time while making the hand gesture for it.

Caesar would glanced off to the side and then copy the gesture the human man was doing.

"Yes. This is your home," the man chuckled. "Your home," the man continued with a few more chuckles.

Caesar had then reached on over and gave the human a hug before the screen to the camera fizzled out and beeped.

Breathing quietly, Koba slowly pressed a button on the camera to turn it off, wondering to himself at what he had just saw. While his mind wandered to back to Caesar's life, as a child, living with these humans that definitely didn't show any animosity to the young chimp. Something stirred deeply within Koba's chest. Something that he hadn't felt for quite a long time. Letting his gaze wander up to the window as memories of recent years came back to him.

There was a great first from their very first successful hunt since their liberation from Caesar. Koba was sulking as he sat near a small enclave that seemed a little too tight for him, just out a bit of ways away from the other apes. He wasn't sure how to handle by being around so many others at once. It had delighted and frightened him to no end. But by being alone for so long, does things to you that cannot be explained. While he sulked, Koba then noticed a figure had separated from the giant crowd of apes and was making their way on over towards him.

" _Koba?_ " Caesar signed to the bonobo.

" _Yes Caesar?_ " Koba answered.

Caesar furrowed his brows before he glanced about the bonobo, as if he was looking for something before meeting Koba's gaze once more.

" _Why are you out here? All alone?_ " Caesar asked.

Koba huffed and turned away from Caesar.

" _Koba not like Caesar. Not like other apes. Different…_ " Koba explained.

At this Caesar frowned, not quite understanding what Koba was getting at.

" _Caesar and other apes are whole. Not like Koba. That is ape home, with you. Koba stay here,_ " Koba explained.

"Our. Home," Caesar spoke up, causing Koba to go still and stare up at the chimpanzee with wide eyes. " _This your home too. With all apes. Big. Small. Whole. Not whole. With us, Maurice, Rocket… Me. Our home. You understand?_ "

Koba couldn't help but open his mouth and close it several times, trying to think of something to say but couldn't. Seeing that he had no response, Caesar smiled at Koba and offered an inviting arm.

"M-my… Home?" Koba asked genuinely.

"Yes. This. Your home," Caesar finished, a smile upon his lips.

Huffing, Koba glanced down at Caesar's hand before he tentatively reached out and took a hold of it.

As the memory faded, Koba's vision immediately went blurry, causing him to blink and feel warmth flow down the sides of his cheeks. Then, like the walls of a dam, it suddenly broke apart, unleashing a forceful tide of emotions from within him. These emotions had washed over him so quickly and unexpectedly that he didn't even have time to keep it at bay. Once those first droplets of tears had escaped from him, he immediately closed in on himself and had let out a forceful, heartrending cry that howled throughout the Rodman household, his own voice shaking his whole being.

As he cried there, all alone. Koba could now see, hear and feel what his actions had caused him. His memories. Dark and unimaginable memories that he had kept locked away deep within himself rose up to meet him in the most gruesome of ways. The day he had lost his mother to their abusive caretaker Roger. The beatings he received from Tommy when he had failed to complete a trick with Milo. Those tortuous days he spent within the labs, cushioned only slightly by the presence of Amol who tried to help him. Only for the man to be ripped away from him by Steven Jacobs with the continuation of those awful tests. That painful moment when Caesar struck him down at the dam for trying to warn him about the humans and their guns. That night when he had learned that Caesar was killed by a human gun due to the ploy that Pope played on him. That moment when Caesar had said that he belonged in a cage. All of those memories, both old and new had hurt so much, tearing him from the inside out that it was unbearable for him. In that oceanic tide of anguish, Koba shut his eyes tightly as he was being suffocated, drowning in that sea of sorrow.

Then all of a sudden, in that deep despair, he felt something warm and soft wrapping their arms around him. With his shaking hands, Koba had then reached up as well and grasped weakly at that someone, almost desperately so. Through his fits of sobs he could then hear a voice, a soothing voice that seemed to cut through and pushed away at those thoughts that were belittling him.

"It's going to be okay. You're safe now," the voice would say over and over again in a calmly fashion.

With weak hiccups. Koba finally mustered up the energy to open his eyes again, finding himself being held tightly and securely within the arms of a woman.

"Mary?" Koba said in a quivering breath, turning his gaze upwards to get a better look at the human woman who was holding him.

To his astonishment, instead of seeing Mary holding onto him like he thought she was, he was met with the tearful smile of Ellie instead. He froze momentarily before easing himself slightly away from the human nurse, confusing her. Before he could stand up and walk away from her, Ellie had reached out and took a firm hold of his hand, preventing him from doing so.

"Don't Koba," the woman said in a quiet voice. "Stay."

Huffing, Koba closed his eyes tightly, half turning away from Ellie. He was so ashamed that she was there, comforting an ape like him.

"Koba. Look at me please," he heard the woman say. "You don't have to suffer alone. I am here for you. Remember?" she finished.

Letting out a long drawn out breath, Koba hesitantly rounded his head back to face the human nurse, meeting her eyes with his shocked ones. Hearing those words from her. Those words that held nothing but the most absolute of sincerity within them, filled him with a certain warmth, deep down within his being. Knowing that Ellie was not going to leave him alone helped eased him a great bit. Her words gently pushing away at that dark terrible stormed within him. Like a beam of sunlight that filters through the abyss, illuminating all in it's warming light.

Koba didn't quite understand the woman. Even after what he's done to her. Yelled at her. Attacked her. Even tried to kill her and her family. Yet here this human woman was, still showing him nothing but honest good compassion. And he was deeply moved and happy for it.

"E-Ellie?" Koba sobbed.

"Yes Koba?" The woman responded.

Koba at first didn't say anything as he sat there looking into the woman's eyes. He then shamefully lowered his head and paused a moment longer. Letting himself calm down as much as he could so that he could properly tell her what he needed to say to her.

"Koba... K-Koba is sorry. I... I am sorry. F-for… For everything," Koba continued with loud sniffles, still keeping his head low. "I… I hurt you. I'm… I'm-"

Before he could even finish what he was saying, Ellie had immediately embraced him again, hugging him tightly within her arms.

"Thank you," the woman whimpered out. "Thank you. So much."

"Why? Why are you. Not mad. At me?" Koba asked while he was still being hugged tightly by Ellie, confused.

"I was never mad at you," Koba heard the woman say quietly as she held onto him.

Koba then felt Ellie pulling back from him and she met his gaze.

"I was sad. Heartbroken that someone like you have suffered so much," Ellie continued as she took a hold of Koba's hands again. "I may not know you personally or know what you've went through. But that doesn't mean that I cannot see the scars that has marred your body or hear the pain in your voice. But I can feel Koba. Feel it in here that you are hurting," Ellie continued, reaching up and placing a hand over the bonobo's chest.

Koba looked down at Ellie's hand that was placed over his heart before she removed it. He then slowly brought his own hand and placed it over his chest as well, feeling the heart beating from within. He then curiously lifted his head to meet Ellie's gaze again.

"I just wanted to help you. See you happy. To live your life and believe in us humans again," Ellie spoke softly, offering Koba a teary smile.

At this Koba's nostrils flared several times before he practically wrapped his arms around Ellie once more, hugging her as his who body was wracking within another fit of sobs once more. The woman cooed to him quietly while reaching up and gently rubbing his backside, like a mother would comfort her child when they were in distress.

Koba had thought that he would never trust a human ever again. But thanks to this woman, who was sitting in front of him. She had showed him that there were very much humans out there that are good at heart, wanting nothing but peace and to reach out and heal. She had saved him from his darkness and he was glad of her for it.

They were both like that for a long while, just happy to be in the other's company. Eventually they had both seperated, with Koba timidly looking away from Ellie while Ellier herself was straightening out her clothes.

"Koba?" Ellie asked quietly, causing the scarred bonobo to turn back to her.

"Yes?" Koba answered hesitantly.

"Who is Mary? You've said her name a few times now, Ellie inquired through her gentle smile.

At this question, Koba simply looked away from Ellie and stared up at the window of Caesar's room. Thinking long and hard about it.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to. I was just curious," Ellie said lightly.

It grew quiet again and Koba took in a deep breath.

"Mary," Koba started, his eyes still staring out of the window. "Was a good human... To me," he spoke softly.

Ellie watched as Koba finally turned his gaze back towards her, staring at her with those golden-green and milky white eyes that no longer held any malice within them.

"You. Remind me of her," Koba spoke in a soft and congenial voice as he gestured towards her. "Ellie. Reminds Koba of Mary, he explained. "Ellie is nice. Like her. Make me trust in humans again. Reminds Koba. That there are still good humans. Like you."

Upon hearing this, Ellie couldn't help but let out a soft gasp as she placed her hands over her chest as a new set of fresh tears fell from her. Touched that Koba had considered her that much.

Koba blinked up at the woman, shedding a couple tears of his own. But at that moment, he really didn't care. Not anymore. For he knew that Ellie did not judge him. Would not judge him. Was not scared of him. But saw him, as who he is and what he was. An ape that had lost his way in the darkness and was now finding his way back, with a little bit of help.

"Thank you, Ellie. For. Helping me. Helping Caesar. Helping apes. Everything," Koba said softly, offering her a genuine smile.

"You're welcome," Ellie responded as she returned the warm smile from Koba.


	31. Chapter 31

When he had closed his tired eyes, Ray was thrusted into a world that was cold and dark. Plunging through that bottomless abyss that seemed to swallow everything with its giant maw. As Ray kept on falling he eventually landed onto his back with a thud. Groaning to himself Ray tried to peer at the darkness from where he lay but could not, for the life of him, see anything. Eventually a pale strange light filled his vision a light that was not warm nor inviting. Instead it filled him with quite the fear, reminding him of those glassy pale eyes of the dead that stared back at him. Slowly, Ray turned his head to the side and noticed something laying next to him. Strangely the thing looked very familiar, like he should know what it was.

With a blink, Ray then understood that he was staring at the outline of another ape, lying on his back, held down by strange flat brown ropes with metals in them. But to Ray's horror he could see that the ape's body had been thrusted with long metal needles, sticking out from their body, from its arms and legs to its eyes and mouth in a horrible fashion. The most terrifying part for him thought was that he could see and hear that the other ape was still alive, shaking trembling in pain and letting out whimpering noises. With a gasp, Ray tried to move away but soon found out that he was being held down by the same strange bindings as well. There was a soft gurgling noise to his left and Ray quickly spun his head in that direction, seeing another ape as well, this one with his torso and abdomen cut wide open with his entrails hanging on wires that were suspended in the air.

Ray heaved once and then made to cry out loud but found that his voice would come out. He tried again and again but for reasons unknown to him, his voice just wouldn't come. Then slowly a figure appeared over his vision, blocking the eerie light that shone above. Squinting his eyes up at the person, Ray's eyes grew wide. What he saw were familiar eyes, one looking green and normal, the other a milky white.

Koba.

The bonobo above Ray however seemed to sneer down at him, seeming to revel in his predicament. The scarred bonobo seemed to glance off to the side momentarily before he reached on over and grabbed at something. Ray's heart pounded within his chest when he noticed that Koba had brought a sharp metallic looking blade into view and stared back down at Ray.

"Now you will know," Ray heard Koba say, his voice echoing all around him, along with the painful groans of the other apes around him.

The bonobo then brought the blade down, inching it closer and closer towards Ray's face. Ray on the other hand screamed and screamed desperately, trying his best to free himself of his bindings and to get away from the crazed bonobo above him. With a final desperate cry for help, Ray closed his eyes tightly and screamed again.

This time a blinding flash appeared before Ray, dispelling the nightmare all around him. Images and sounds of his father praising him happily with the first spear that he had ever made. Images of him playfully tumbling in the dirt of their home with Blue Eyes, Ash, Lake, Maple and many of the other ape children, when they were all but younglings. Images and feelings of touching a stream of water for the first time and seeing the world that was beneath its cool surface. A world where crawfish walked on their many legs, fishes darting in and out of sight, shining brilliantly like the slivers of the sky. Images of him sitting with Blue Eyes and Ash as they all listened to Malcolm telling them stories at night, about human civilization in a time before. Images and feelings of Ray and the other's playing with Alexander at the beach, splashing within the surf and tickle-torturing the human teen. The warm feeling of his father gently holding him as he had fell from a tree and hurt his leg, crying desperately into the older orangutan's chest. But the older ape merely smiled warmly at Ray and gently rocked him.

" _Remember son. No matter how much you leg hurt. It will always get better in the end,_ " Hector would sign to Ray, letting out soft grumbles from his throat sac, to comfort Ray.

These wonderful vision that had suddenly showed up to Ray, felt like how an elder would remind him that no matter how much bad there was in the world, there were still many a good things too. That everything was not just pain and darkness but filled with with comfort and light as well.

Letting out a weary breath, Ray could now feel his consciousness return to him heavily tired body. With a few huffs, he willed his eyes to open slowly before he pushed himself up into a sitting position. As he looked around, Ray noticed that he seemed to be in a square like room that was not much larger than the cage he shared with Ash and Fox on that truck. He was curious to see that one side of the room was wide open and as he made his way towards it, he accidentally bumped his face into an invisible wall. Rubbing his snout in surprise, Ray reached out and felt his fingers being stopped by something that was solid and cool to the touch. He knew what this was, he had found fragments of it woods, but had found many more, especially within the old human world, where giant square like spires of it reached high into the sky.

Glass.

Pressing his face up to the glass, Ray tried to see what was on the other side. There were many other strange things out of the room, most he didn't quite recognize. They were all shiny, made out of either metal or glass and the smooth stuff that he didn't know what to make out of them.

Ray had let out a small squeak as one of the humans walked past him. He had quickly backed away and braced himself, thinking that the humans in those strange orange suits were going to hurt him again. Instead, they went about their business around the room, mostly ignoring him. Relieved at that thought, Ray now examined his body and noticed how much he hurt. He had found several sore spots around his body which stung in the center of it all. Reaching up, Ray had found out that he now had a bald spot where his hair used to be, the flesh there raw and sore as well. Letting out small gurgling noises, he couldn't help but feel groggy and even more sick than he was in the truck that he and the others had came in.

Lifting his head and letting his eyes wander, Ray could now see that both Ash and Fox were put in two similar chambers that he was in, both separated by a glass wall it looks like. He could see that Fox still laid in a heap, still under the effects of the terrible sleep they were put under. Ray however narrowed his eyes at the older chimp, knowing that Fox is pretty deceptive a lot of the times and was most likely just pretending to be asleep. Ray then silently turned his attention to where Ash was and huffed worriedly. If Ash were awake, he would likely make himself known but so far the white flecked chimpanzee have yet to stir nor utter a sound and it was concerning to Ray.

Ray then quietly turned his attention to the humans, watching them go about their business. Taking various things, talking among each other and completely ignoring him and the others. After a little while, the humans eventually left the room, leaving the apes there within their chambers. Big mistake. What the humans didn't know, was that Ray himself already knew that these glass were breakable and the moment they were gone he put his plans into action. Drawing his arm back and balling up his fist, Ray threw a punch as hard as he could, right into the center of the glass wall that separated him from freedom.

To Ray's surprise, instead of breaking, like he thought it would normally, there was only a loud wobbling sound instead. Ray then drew his arm back and punched at the class once more and then again and again, until his knuckles were bloody. Placing his forehead upon the glass, Ray slid down to the floor of his cell, lost in the despair of his situation. No wonder the humans were not worried in leaving them there, in those glass and metal rooms.

A few minutes later both Ray looked up from his spot when he saw two humans enter the room. One of them seemed to be female, wearing clothing the colors of a clear evening sky that left her hairless legs bare from the knees down. Her clothing were fastened with pretty metal buttons that looked rather curious to both of the younger apes. The woman wore glasses over her eyes, very much like some of the humans back in the city did, finally she was wearing that strange cloth on her face, like the other humans who had came to take them away from Carla, Feliz and the others. Standing next to the woman stood a older man, who was definitely taller than her. His hair was much redder than even Ray's body hair and he wore simple clothing that reminded Ray of what Malcolm usually wears; a shapeless shirt that covered him up to the wrists and waist over wrinkled blue leg-coverings.

"Ah! This one's awake! How are you?" the man said aloud in a rather chipper voice, as he approached Ray and smiled down at him. "You don't need the mask by the way," he finished, turning back around to look at the woman.

"Very well," said the woman, as she pulled the cloth down away from her face so that Ray could see her lips.

Something about the woman's body language, as alien and different as it was, suggested that she was the more dominant of the two. Her tone only confirmed it to Ray as he observed the two older humans.

"Tell me about them doctor," the woman ordered simply.

"Well," the man started as he gestured towards Ray. "This little guy here is an orangutan. The other two are chimpanzees. In terms of size and weight though, from what we've gathered mind you, the orangutan is pretty small. I'm guessing he may be an adult? But very young still. The two chimps however falls in the average range for young adults, as far as chimps go, from what I understand. Anyways, some of the lab notes aren't back yet, and what I really would like is an MRI of these fellas-"

"And these things are plague - free?" The woman interrupted the man, another sign that she was in charge.

The man faltered a moment, pausing, before he cleared his throat.

"No," the man answered. "They have the virus in their systems. But so do we and everyone else that is still alive."

"So it's identical to what we carry then?" The woman asked as she narrowed her eyes down at Ray who simply stared back.

"Well… It's very close but…" The man started.

"But?" The woman asked sharply turning to face him.

"Well they have some archaic traits? If that makes sense?" The man answered.

"What the hell does that mean?" The woman demanded in a fierce tone, even causing Ray to flinch at her voice. "Archaic traits?"

"It's nothing really," the man answered while waving his hands in front of him to the unamused human woman. "At least nothing to worry about. Anything with genetic information in it-your cells, my cells, a virus-mutates a little with each generation. You know? The mutation for the most part-"

As the human man continued on his long speech Ray glanced on over to both Ash warily, wondering why his friend had not awoken yet. He wondered if there was something truly wrong with Ash but then again, Fox had yet to budge as well but Ray could care less about the other chimp.

"-We can deduce that these guys are descended from the original population of infected apes," the man finished, causing Ray to look back up at him and the woman.

"And these things, their strain isn't dangerous to us?" The woman asked as she turned her cold eyes back down to Ray.

"No. Not to anyone alive at least. Perfectly harmless they are," the man told the woman. "The part of their code that had fatal effects on humans is the same as what you and I are already immune to. The mutations that serve as markers don't actually have any outcome on how the virus presents itself as and infection."

"I see," the woman said as she turned back to the man. "But you are telling me these two are from the same group that our… Friends up north in San Francisco are dealing with right now?" She asked.

"They could be," the man replied. "I could be more certain if I had an ape on hand that I know for certain was from up there, but the evidence is reasonably certain. It makes sense geographically, as well. There are no topographic boundaries that would prevent apes from that region from coming down here."

"But they never have before?" the woman asked.

"That we know of," the man answered back. "And maybe they never had reason to travel before as well. Maybe they no longer feel safe with that warship sitting off shore up there."

The woman lifted her shoulder and made a sound before she turned her cold brown eyes upon Ray, like she was searching him for something.

"Then they're smart?" The woman asked to which the man merely shrugged in reply.

"You insisted that we do the labs first. We haven't gotten around to testing their intelligence yet. I always thought the reports of their behavior were probably hyperbole - a result of the mass hysteria that happened years ago when the outbreak came about. Plus, I assumed that they all died out," the man finished.

"And what makes you think that?" The woman asked slowly, turning her dark sharp eyes to the man.

"Well, chimpanzees are for equatorial Africa, as so are the gorillas. Orangutans. They're from the tropics of Southeast Asia. And up there? In Northern California? It isn't the right environment for apes like them to survive. It gets much too cold for them and there are definitely not a lot of tropical fruits growing in the wild there as well. So the very fact that they're still alive suggests that they've probably adapted to life up there. And adapted very quickly to such a strange environment, much too quickly. They would have to do what we would have done and modify the environment to fit their needs.

"In what way?" The woman asked.

"You know. Build dwellings. Make tools. Use fire, in ways to cook food and provide a source of heat. Like how our ancestors did it," the man answered as a matter of factly to which the woman merely rolled her eyes at him.

"Were these two things found with any tools? Or seen using fire?" the woman asked the man abruptly.

"No. Not that I know of," the man answered.

"Aren't you an expert in this kind of field?" the woman asked slowly, eyeing the man.

"Me? Hah! No. Dear no," the man chuckled as he waved his hand and head while laughing lightly. "I didn't nor claimed to be. I'm just an epidemiologist by training. I did however get a minor in anthropology. If you have someone better to put on this, please do."

The woman's eyes narrowed and her lips curved up slightly into a grin at the man. "Primatologists are in short supplies these days," she informed. "I remember the one at the San Diego Zoo was hanged."

"For trying to protect the apes there," the man sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at both Ray and then at Fox and Ash. "I remember the hysteria back then. The irony, of course, was that the apes wouldn't have been carrying the virus at all - not unless they had caught it from humans who already had it."

"Our friends up north says that the apes are organized and dangerous," the woman cut the man off once more, turning to glare back down at Ray. "I want to know just how smart they are."

"Did you tell our "friends from up north" about these guys?" The red haired man asked.

"No," the woman answered simply. "All indications are that they really are out of Base McChord and that they represent some remainder of the legitimate-"

Ray himself was starting to dislike the way the human woman kept on glaring down at him, a look of disdain upon her face. Eyeing him like he was beneath her. That glare she was giving him, was more or less a challenging one and apes usually rose up to such a display. If he were only out of his this cell cage right now. But he sighed quietly to himself, he had to remember that this was not the time to be doing nor thinking of such things. Especially in their current predicament.

"-What are they asking for?" the man voiced, snapping Ray out of his thoughts.

The woman seemed to hesitate at the question.

"You know I have clearance," the man said.

"They're asking for Gas," the woman answered sharply. "They just don't want to beat these damn animals. They want to exterminate them."

The man had a look of shock written all over his face, as did Rays, but luckily the woman's eyes were upon the man instead. Ray himself didn't understand this "exterminate" word but by judging from the man's reaction, it was not good for the apes.

"Oh… Wait, I had thought the council decided against to ever using that stuff again," the man breathed.

"Indeed. But we didn't get rid of it either now did we? Why do you imagine that is?" the woman said slowly back.

The man lowered his gaze towards the floor, looking quite defeated.

"Yeah, I know…" he said slowly.

The woman shrugged her shoulders and promptly turned back to look down at both of the apes once more. "In the meantime, we haven't admitted to having it, of course. But an alliance with these people could be fruitful for us. A war with them could prove devastating, destroy everything that we've been working for. We must proceed with caution but leave all options open. I want to know more of what is going on before we even commit any resources or take sides," the woman stated as she met the apes' eyes. "We need to know a lot more."

…

The plan for the apes of the forest was to move further into it, away from all of the fighting in the human city, as Caesar had suggested. Any abled warriors was to stay behind and distract the human soldiers while the rest of the colony that held mostly the females and their you, with the elderly and many wounded were to traverse deeper into the woods. They of course were well protected by mainly the gorillas of the Gorilla Guard and a few of the warriors that were already here.

As they moved on, Winter huffed as he shouldered a heavy bag onto his back and hefted along with the apes. It was a slow pace as usual as they all had to traverse quietly as quietly as possible while they waited for many of the elderly. As soon as they made the time to rest, Winter sat down beside the edge of the group and heaved out a deep breath, letting his mind wander to Luca and the other apes back within the human city. As he sat there, his mind had also wandered on back to a particular ape as well - Glade, wondering how the bonobo was faring. Hoping that he was doing alright.

There was a slight shuffle of sound, causing Winter to snap out of his thoughts and turn quickly, just in time to see Juno go wide eyed and freeze up as well. Upon seeing who it was that had approached him, Winter heaved out a deep breath and relaxed his body, settling back down on the forest ground.

" _You scared me,_ " Winter gestured.

" _Did I?_ " Juno asked as he moved to sit next to Winter. " _Did not mean to._ "

The two apes sat there for a long while, just in silence as the other gorillas, who were not carrying things, patrolled the area. As Juno looked on, he then turned to look at Winter and reached on over to tapped the white gorilla's shoulder.

" _How are you doing?_ " Juno asked.

Winter blinked and slowly looked around before he took in a deep breath.

" _Very tired,_ " Winter gestured back.

Juno nodded understandingly, knowing well that they had been on the move constantly and had hardly any rest at all.

" _How are you?_ " Winter asked, causing Juno to blink in surprise.

" _I would be happier if I was out there, fighting with my father and brothers,_ " Juno lamented but heaved a sigh instead.

" _Really? But it is so dangerous out there. Fighting with the humans,_ " Winter signed uneasily. " _And even if you did stay back. How would you…_ " Winter trailed off.

At this, Juno noticed that the younger gorilla was eyeing his withered left arm and he couldn't help but make an angry frown at Winter, surprising him.

" _You think because I have this, makes me weak?_ " Juno accused.

At this line of questioning, Winter widened his eyes in alarm and quickly shook his head.

" _No, no, I just-_ "

" _You just like Tola,_ " Juno spat in anger as he turned his head away.

At this Winter lowered his hands and lowered his head slightly, knowing well that he hand hurt the older ape.

" _I'm sorry Juno. It's just…_ " Winter tried to think of something to say but nothing was coming to mind.

" _It's because of my arm. My weak arm that I cannot do anything. Be like other apes. Do what they can do. Be strong,_ " Juno growled while he signed.

At this Winter blinked, noticing something very familiar the way Juno was lamenting about his condition.

"But," Juno spoke this time, catching Winter's attention. "My mother. Tells me. I am strong. My father. Tells me. I am strong. Bryn and Oaka. Tells me. I am strong. Glade. Says. I am strong," Juno said slowly.

Juno then turned his head slowly to meet Winter's gaze.

" _I never understood what they mean. Sometimes I do, but most of the time I still don't,_ " Juno signed slowly. " _Because I am different._ "

Winter frowned in on himself and thought long and hard of what Juno had just told him.

" _Me too,_ " Winter answered back. " _I am different too. I hate my white hair. Not dark, like yours. I always get spotted._ " he explained. " _Other apes never take me to go hunt with them or they always find me first in our games. Makes me feel. Not useful. Weak too._ "

Juno tilted his head at Winter as he listened now understanding that the white gorilla had it pretty rough as well. Just like he had said, his white pelt stood out quite a lot in the forest and was always the first one to be spotted within the colony. Maybe that's why Glade understood the both of them so well. As oddities among apes.

" _But, Luca says that I am strong. Glade says that to me too,_ " Winter continued. " _Glade told me that different. Is sometimes not weakness. But something good. But I still do not understand._ "

At this, Juno couldn't help but smile at Winter, confusing the white gorilla.

" _You don't understand Glade? I've been friends with him longer than you and I still don't understand him,_ " Juno gestured as he reached out and nudged Winter's shoulder playfully, the gorilla hesitantly smiling back. " _But I know why Glade says it to you,_ " Juno signed with a big smile.

At this news, Winter perked up.

" _You know why Glade says it to me?_ " Winter inquired. " _Why?_ "

Juno tilted his head confusingly at Winter and narrowed his eyes.

" _You really don't know. Do you?_ " Juno asked.

" _Know what?_ " Winter signed, now more curious than ever.

At this Juno pant hooted in laughter and waved his hand.

" _Not my place to say. I'll let Glade say it to you when he sees you,_ " Juno signed, still laughing.

" _What? Why?_ " Winter questioned, now frustrated at the older chimpanzee who was still quietly pant-laughing at him.

Before Winter could prod more out of Juno the sound was given for the group to move again and Juno quickly stood up, stretching himself all the while.

"Time. To go," Juno grunted as he extended his limbs while letting out a deep sigh. "Come. let us go with others."

With that, Juno started to walk away and stopped before he turned around to look at Winter. The albino gorilla on the other hand, hefted the heavy bag back onto his back and slowly followed the withered arm chimp as they traversed silently once more through the forest.

…

Growing up in the colony, Ray had recounted how he and many of the other apes had grown up with the sun, moon and stars. Each of these wonderful things in the sky measured out time in their own different way. Back in the colony, Ray could remember well that the sun itself counted for the days, and the stars counted for the nights. The moon however was much more complicated, because it did not rise and set with the days or nights, but per to its own time. Much like a scarred bonobo he knew well. Shaking the thought away, Ray remember that Maurice, as well as many of the older orangutans were very much interested in these sorts of things, much more so than the bonobos, chimpanzees and gorillas. The only other ones that were as much interested with these were the humans, Malcolm and his son Alexander. The older of the two who seemed to have a much more vast knowledge about the suns, stars and moon itself, boggling Ray's mind quite a bit.

At the thought of those two humans, Ray couldn't help but frown to himself, wondering where they were now. Or even where Blue Eyes and Rocket were at as well. Was Malcolm still in the town with Carla and Feliz? Were Blue Eyes, Alexander and Rocket still waiting for them out in the unknown? Or looking for them? He didn't know for sure, but wished he did.

Turning his head and letting it lean onto the glass wall, Ray eyed the two cells that held both Ash and Fox; Ash's own cell, empty. Staring at Ash's empty cage, memories of what had happened came rushing back to him.

After the woman and man had left them alone, Ray paced himself around his cage a little while until Fox slowly got up from his side. The two made eye contact but merely scowled at each other before they ignored the other and went about their own business. Ray didn't know how long it was but his legs were starting to tire from going back and forth from within his cage. It was then the orangutan and older chimpanzee noticed Ash stirring from his sleep finally. Ray had stopped in his pacing and pressed himself up onto the glass of his cell, happy to see that Ash was finally waking from his deep sleep.

Ray lightly tapped at his glass to get Ash's attention but then something didn't feel right to him. He watched as Ash slowly got up from his spot from the ground onto shaking legs. The chimpanzee then propped himself with one arm onto the wall beside him as his shoulders slowly rose up and down with deep heavy breaths. Furrowing his brows in worry, Ray turned towards Fox, seeing that the older chimp was now curiously watching Ash from his side of the glass wall as well. Rounding his head back to where Ash was, Ray could see that the older chimpanzee was now holding his head with his free hand, looking as if he were in pain. Ray had then try to hoot once, to get Ash's attention, to see if his friend was alright. But then all of a sudden, Ash had doubled over and unleashed a torrent of his stomach contents onto the ground beneath him, surprising both Ray and Fox. Once Ash was done spilling out his inside, he started to gag and cough loudly, wiping at his snout with the back of his free arm as he heaved haggardly. Then like before, Ash's body convulsed again as he let loose yet another stream of his stomach contents onto the ground before immediately collapsing onto the floor of his cage with a loud thud, unconscious.

At this point, worried for his friend's condition, Ray hooted loudly from within his cell at Ash. Fox on the other hand, stood up slowly and made his way on over towards the glass wall that separated both him and Ash from each other, looking down at the unconscious younger chimp.

As Ray had continued to let out his alarming cries, the humans came rushing back into the room and noticed one of the apes had was laying in a pile of its own filth. They spoke loudly to each other before the human with the bright red hair came back in and started barking order to the the others. They opened up the glass door to Ash's cage, picked up the unconscious chimp and placed him onto a cart before pushing him away. Ray however did not stop hooting all the while as he watched the humans carting away Ash's unconscious form, wondering on what they were going to do with him. The humans quickly sprayed Ash's cell with water, cleaning it effectively before they all walked away, leaving just Ray and Fox alone once more.

That had been a long while ago and Ray didn't know how long has been for him, as it was hard to tell time because they didn't see the outside. The strange lights were usually lit when the humans were in the room and off when they were not. However the light were on more often than they were off and Ray couldn't help but feel agitated by these things and became confused as to how long they had been imprisoned for.

After they had taken Ash away, Fox had kept to himself at first, and Ray had little desire to talk with him. But as time went on and Ash did not return, he began to despair, finding out that he was feeling lonely without Ash there to keep him company or make him laugh. So after quite some time, when Fox hand spoke to him, Ray immediately lifted his head up to give the older chimp his attention.

" _Understand now?_ " Fox asked.

" _Understand what?_ " Ray asked in return.

" _Why Koba was right and Caesar was wrong,_ " Fox gestured with a frown.

At this Ray had been giving it some thought while he was locked up in this place.

" _I think I understand Koba better,_ " Ray answered finally after a little bit of silence. " _Understand all of the elders better. Listening to their stories is one thing but to experience it… Is another,_ " Ray slowly signed before he cocked his head at Fox. " _What is it that you understand Fox? You were born in the woods, like me too._ "

" _I understand that humans are bad,_ " Fox answered with a frown.

" _Because they put us in cages? Koba put Rocket and Maurice in a cage. He put humans in cages too. How are humans bad and Koba good?_ " Ray countered.

" _It is not like that. Besides, not about bad or good. It is about survival,_ " Fox waved his hand dismissively.

At this, Ray couldn't help but frown at the older chimp.

" _You were the one who used the word bad,_ " Ray pointed out. " _If the word doesn't mean anything, why use it at all?_ "

Ray watched as Fox bared his fangs slightly but lowered them into a angry frown. But like Ray himself, he figured that maybe Fox was lonely too, especially since the humans took Ash away, leaving just the two of them together. Back in the woods, apes were never far apart from each other, always grooming or being groomed in the process. Talking with each other, telling stories, making drumming noises with each other and play fighting. Together. But now, all they had now was each other.

" _What do you think they are doing to him?_ " Ray asked turning to look at the door where the humans hat taken Ash.

" _Don't care,_ " Fox responded as he crossed his arms.

At this, Ray tilted his head at Fox. He could clearly remember the surprise in the other chimps eyes when they both watched Ash vomiting within his own cell.

" _I think you do care,_ " Ray gestured.

" _And what makes you think that?_ " Fox asked with a part of his lip lifting to show his teeth.

Ray however simply stared at the older ape, knowing why Fox should know why he cared.

" _You think because I stayed around with Ash makes me care about him? He attacked me remember?_ " Fox angrily signed at Ray.

" _Only because you were biting me,_ " Ray shot back before gesturing to his forearm where the bite marks were still healing.

" _Because you punched me!_ " Fox signed and barked, slamming his fist onto the glass of his cage, leaving behind the wobbling sound it made to echo all around them.

At this Ray lowered his head a little. Fox was right. He did attack first in his rage and therefore Fox retaliated. But Fox was out there to kill them, right? So he had to. But then if Ash hadn't intervened, he wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Lifting up his head a little, Ray met Fox's angry green eyes, teeth open bare.

" _You are right… I did hit you first. I am sorry,_ " Ray signed, surprising Fox a little.

Upon seeing this from Ray, Fox's mouth slowly closed into a frown instead.

" _Never mind. No use in us fighting each other. When they bring Ash back. Let's get out of here. Then you can try and kill me,_ " Ray signed.

This caused Fox to deepened his frown and hardened his glare at Ray before he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

" _Then how do you suggest we escape?_ " Fox signed back instead. " _I saw you try to break your cage. It did not work,_ " Fox indicated by pointing at Ray's knuckles that had long since dried.

Ray glanced down at his hand before he looked back up at Fox.

" _I had thought we can break the glass. I guess I was wrong. Do you have ideas?_ " Ray asked.

Fox placed a palm onto the glass barrier of his cell and slowly dragged his hand across it, narrowing his eyes all the while.

" _Seems like these only open from outside. When humans came to take Ash. I saw them doing something to open his cage,_ " Fox concluded.

" _Then one of us must get outside somehow,_ " Ray signed back.

Fox made a dismissive sound and waved Ray off.

" _Did you not hear what the humans said?_ " Ray asked. " _The humans on the ship. They asked these humans for help. For some kind of weapon. If they come to fight Caesar also-_ "

" _Does not matter what happens to Caesar,_ " Fox interrupted the younger orangutan. " _Apes will be safe from harm._ "

At first Ray didn't understand what Fox had meant. Then it hit him and Ray felt as if he had swallowed a cold lump of mud.

" _What?_ " Ray gestured back. " _What do you mean Fox? That apes will be safe?_ "

Upon seeing Ray's questioning hands, a chagrin look overcame Fox's face and he quickly turned away from the orangutan. Ray however huffed quietly within his cage as he watched Fox turn his head away from him. What were Pope and Koba's followers planning? How many of them were there?

" _Fox-_ "

In the middle of his signing towards Fox, Ray was interrupted by the door to the room opening, causing both him and the older chimpanzee to look in the direction. The red haired man then burst into the room and stood there, staring at the both of them with an expression that meant nothing to on the face of an ape, but which clearly expressed something to humans. The red haired man turned his head back and forth from Ray and Fox.

"You both are using sign language," the man breathed. "You're… You're both talking to each other!"

Ray huffed to himself, wondering how he and Fox had been caught when the humans were not there or even how the man could know that they were talking to each other. Ray blinked and then thought to himself, realizing that it probably didn't matter how the man came to find out that they were hand speaking to one another. The only decision for them now was whether to keep silent or speak up, and the only reason to choose one or the other was if it increased their chances of an escape.

Fox was right - when they were even allowed out of their cages, they were both bound in chains of metal or rope. He suspected, too, that the other doors in the strange place was locked. Even if they tried to slip out of their bindings and subdue the humans within the room, they were still trap in this otherworldly strange place. So leaving the situation as it stood now, for the both of them, and wherever Ash was, they had no chance to escape. Even if they wanted to.

" _Yes,_ " Ray signed to the man.

"And you can understand what I say? What I speak?" The man asked Ray.

" _Some only. Some of your human words I do not know,_ " Ray signed back to the man.

Ray turned to look at Fox but could see that the older chimp had his head down low and baring his fangs. Ray frowned in return. He knew that what he was doing might jeopardize in what they were planning but maybe they can trick these humans somehow. Besides, he figured that they were going to be found out one way or another anyways.

"Well damn," the man muttered. "And I don't know the first thing about sign language. Naturally. So I have no clue what you're saying," the man hummed to himself as he stood there, rubbing his chin, looking down at Ray.

The man then made a noise and held a finger up into the air.

"Hang on. I'll be back," the man said excitedly before leaving the room in a whirl.

After the man had left them alone, Ray wondered to himself what had just occurred. What was puzzling to him, was how the man had known that he and Fox were conversing with each other while they were not in the room? Obviously the human man had some way to see them while they were alone. A peephole or something. Were they always being watched? It seemed likely. In all that time that they were both in the glass cages, this was the first occasion that he and Fox had actually hand-speak to each other, and they were noticed immediately.

It was a little bit later before the man returned with a bag of things in his arms. The woman that was with him the first time he visited was also with him.

"And I don't have the real stuff," the man continued. "But this is some of my granddaughter's things. Luckily I decided to keep these things for strange, or rather wonder occasions like these!" The man announced as he slipped some of the things into Ray's cell through the strange opening. "That should do."

Ray slowly walked on over to look at the things and noticed that there was a box that had holes of different shapes on it, accompanying it were some brightly colored pegs, also in various shapes.

"Can you put the right shapes in the right holes?" The man asked Ray.

Ray however looked the things over, wondering if there was some sort of trick involved. It was rather a silly question. But as he looked back at the two humans, seeing them continue to watch him, he decided that they were serious.

"This? This is what you brought me here for?" The woman asked as she watched the orangutan placed the right shapes into the holes before she turned to face the man. "You brought me here. To watch this ape put some shapes into a box? Couldn't any ape do that?" the woman deadpanned.

"No you don't understand," the man spoke quickly, "they-"

"Easy."

At the strange grunting sound, both the man and woman went very still and then turned slowly to look at Ray. Ray had wanted to laugh at seeing such strange expressions from the two humans but he kept his tongue.

"Did-did you say something?" The man asked quietly.

Ray quickly glanced in Fox's direction who was now fuming before he turned his gaze back to the two humans.

"This easy," Ray told them.

He then pulled the pegs to the thing out and tried to put the one with three sides into the hole with the four shapes indention.

"This easy. Can see. How fit," Ray explained.

It was then Ray had remembered something Koba had told him and the other young apes once, evidence for how stupid humans were, at least from his point of view. The bonobo had explained to the young apes how the humans thought a chimp's grin of terror was funny to them, how it made humans believe apes were laughing.

So… He grinned like a scared chimp at the two humans. In response though, both of the humans made similar expressions in return as well. It was absolutely terrifying to see these from the two humans. It wasn't like he hadn't seen these kinds of expressions before. Malcolm and Alexander would often smile like this. But when those two had smiled or did the scared chimpanzee grin, their smiles were full of warmth, which was easily read within their eyes. But these two humans though, Ray couldn't see anything warm within them at all, and it really did scare him to his core.

"I can't believe he's talking?" The man exclaimed.

"Indeed. It is," the woman replied before she straightened herself out and took a step closer to Ray's glass cage. "What is your name?" She asked slowly.

"Ray," Ray answered the woman as he pointed to himself. "Your?" He asked the woman.

"Jesus God almighty. I can't believe this," the man swore from behind the woman.

"My name is Messenger. Commander Abigail Messenger, if that means anything to you," Messenger answered before she turned her head slightly to her male companion. "This is Doctor Horn. Who you've already met."

"They're talking," Horn continued to mutter to himself.

"Now," Messenger continued on before she faced Ray again. "Can you tell us where you're from?"

Ray paused a moment to think on it. Wondering if he should tell this Messenger human anything at all or make lies. But that was probably a terrible idea.

"Forest. Big trees. Far away," Ray explained.

"Forest?" Messenger repeated curiously. "Have you heard of a place called San Francisco?"

"Human home," Ray said, remembering what the humans had called their city of glass and metal, the place with no trees.

"Humans live there?" Messenger asked.

"Yes," Ray answered.

"And why have you come here?" Messenger questioned again.

At this line of questioning, Ray had to think on it. He still wasn't used to these human vocabularies even if Malcolm and Alexander tried to help him with it. But he got the jist of it at least, but he shouldn't really tell them that they were looking for a new home.

"Truck?" Ray explained as he made moving gestures with his hands like wheels. "Truck. Bring here."

"Oh, seems like we got ourselves a smartass here," Horn said in a unamused voice.

"I mean before that," Messenger continued as she raised a finger up towards the doctor to silence him. "Before the people of Esperanza found you. What were you doing?" She pressed.

Ray wondered that maybe he should tell them parts of the truth.

"Search," Ray huffed.

"Search? Searching for what?' Messenger asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Just search. Not know what," Ray explained with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Told you, quite the little smartass here," Horn continued, causing Messenger to turn and give him a stern look.

As the human woman turned back around to look at him, Ray reached up and touched at his neck.

"Talk, hard," Ray explained before raising his hands up to show them, "Hand talk. Easy."

"I see," Messenger said as she took a step back before turning towards Horn. "We're going to need to find someone who knows sign language.

Messenger then turned her head slowly towards Fox and met the chimpanzees gaze.

"He can talk too? All of you? Even the one in the infirmary?"

The one in the infirmary? What is an infirmary? Ray didn't know what it is or what it was but he knew for sure that this Messenger human was referring to Ash.

"Friend? Friend hurt? Sick?" Ray asked in quick huff. "Where?" He met both of the humans' eyes.

"Answer the question. Can you all speak or not?" The woman demanded once more in a low tone.

Ray blinked up at her and huffed before he lowered his head and slowly nodded.

"Yes," he answered.

"I see…" the woman voiced as she turned towards her male companion and shared a look that contained some information between the both of them.

They both turned to look back down at Ray.

"One more question. And then I'll tell you about your friend and let you rest," the woman said slowly as Ray looked up at her, his eyes slightly wet. "You apes. What do you want?"

"Survive. And peace," Ray answered softly.

Messenger seemed to consider Ray's words for a moment, her dark brown eyes searching him again. And when the human woman got enough from what she needed from him, she immediately turned to her male companion.

"What is the status of the one that was put in the infirmary?" She demanded, shocking Horn out of his thoughts.

"The uh… Ahem! The chimpanzee seemed to have had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia that we administered to him several days ago," Horn explained.

"And his condition now doctor?" Messenger pressed.

"He still has a minor fever but nothing too serious. My lab workers are watching over him for the time being," Horn sighed. "Does that suffice?"

Messenger slowly turned back to Ray.

"There's your answer. The other one is fine for now," Messenger explained.

With that said both of the humans turned around and left the room, leaving both Fox and Ray alone once more.

Huffing, Ray lowered his head to look down at the colorful shapes around him before he lifted his head up and turned to look at Fox, who had an angry frown upon his face.

" _Had no choice,_ " Ray signed to the fuming chimp.

" _You have doomed us all,_ " Fox gestured back, shaking his head slowly side to side.

…

He couldn't remember where he was nor what he was doing. He did however remember the nightmare he had while he was sleeping. When his eyes had closed, Ash had found himself being dragged by the scruff of his neck on ground. At this, he suddenly panicked and cried out for help as he flailed and tried to get away at whomever was dragging him. Before long he suddenly saw a familiar face coming into view, a face of an ape's.

Koba's.

The scarred bonobo sneered menacingly down at him before the stronger ape bent down and picked Ash up within his arms. Ash then tried to scream again for help before he was suddenly thrown over something and fell. He fell and fell, further down towards the ground and went he hit it, he suddenly jolted awake with a start.

Breathing heavily, Ash narrowed his eyes as blinding light shined down on him, hurting his eyes and head. Turning his head to the side slowly, Ash felt his stomach trying to push something up through him and out of his mouth, but luckily nothing came through. As he laid there though, wherever he was, Ash could distinctly hear voices around him, and feel hands touching him. They touched his chest, arms, legs and head. All talking fast and incoherently. Too tired to understand what was going on around him, Ash closed his eyes once more and the next time he woke up, he found out that he was still laying down on something soft.

Ash lifted up his head but doing so, caused the world to spin around him and he quickly laid it back down with a small huff. As he tried to reach up and hold his still pounding head, Ash soon found out that his arms were tied down, not surprising him. Tiredly, he let his head lolled around to see where he was at. It looked like the humans had taken him somewhere else, away from Fox and Ray. The room was very white with strange lights up in the ceiling. It also had a window towards his left which also brought in the sun's rays as well. Ray? Where is Ray and Fox? Closing his eyes and letting out a huff, Ash groaned to himself as his mind was assaulted with pain yet again.

Along with the pain, Ash found himself shivering, feeling cold all over. Panting lightly, he turned his head around to see if there was anything to help warm him up. The sound of a door opening, caused Ash to turn his eyes to whoever had just came into the room. A human. A human woman to be precise, who adorned herself in an outfit that had the colors that were a little bit darker than the sky, more like the colors of the sea. Her dark hair was tied into a small bun that sat atop of her head. It was very curious for Ash to see the human to wear her hair like that but he kept quiet.

"You're awake?" The woman said aloud in surprise, her dark eyes wide.

Ash didn't respond to her, knowing well that they well that they must keep quiet. Play the dumb animal to these humans, lest they do horrible things to them. But he couldn't stop his body from shivering and the human woman seemed to take notice of that. She quickly disappeared from the room, leaving Ash there in the silence for a moment before she returned with a piece of cloth in her arms. She looked hesitant at first as she eyed him but she quickly threw the blanket over his shivering form.

Once the blanket was around him, Ash looked down at himself and then back up at the woman, who curiously stared back. He thought long and hard for a moment but then decided to offer her a genuine smile. Upon seeing this the woman's curious face quickly melted away, replaced with a warm smile of her own.

"Linda?"

At the sound of a new voice both of the room's occupants turned their heads to see another human poking his head into the room, curiously looking at the both of them.

"What are you doing?" the man whispered.

"He was cold. So I gave him a blanket," Linda spoke back in a hush.

"We're supposed to leave that animal alone. You could get in trouble with Horn," the man said back.

At this the woman stiffened and the woman turned to look at Ash once more before she nodded slowly to the other human. Ash curiously watched as the human walked away from his bedside and approached the door, taking a hold of it. The human, called Linda stopped once and turned back to look at him again, offering him a kind smile before she stepped out of the room, leaving him alone once more.

"Thank. You," Ash said quietly aloud as he slowly closed his eyes, letting sleep tak a hold of him once more.

…

The next time Horn and Messenger came back into the room, they had another human with them from what Fox and Ray could tell. This newcomer was male, tall, with silver colored hair that was worn in a braid. The man looked polite; he didn't try to make eye contact with them immediately, and when he did, he didn't hold it for too long. A little bit earlier they had taken Fox out of the room to somewhere else. He didn't know what the humans were planning on doing but it was surely not a good sign if they were separating them.

"Start with that one over there. The orangutan," Messenger said to the man.

"May I sit down?" the old man asked. "My old legs don't work so well, these days."

Messenger pulled a chair with wheels over and presented it to the man. The man thanked her before he gently settled into it. Ray eyed the interesting contraption, a chair with wheels on it. It was so odd yet the human with the grey hair seemed to use it like it was natural for him. The new human still looked rather uncomfortable though, from what Ray could see, under the stares of both Horn and Messenger over him.

"Shouldn't we be wearing some kind of gear? I heard-"

"The lab area is perfectly safe," Horn reassured as he cut the older man off.

"Okay then," the man sighed.

Ray watched as the man slowly moved the strange chair with wheels around so that he was now facing him.

" _How are you?_ " the man signed.

No matter how many times Ray had seen the humans try to hand-speak, it was alway humorous to him, especially for Ash. Mainly because it was so odd and strange to see humans do it. They had try to teach Alexander before. He was very slow at first but had caught on quickly with just the basics. Oh he missed having Alex around.

" _In a cage,_ " Ray signed back.

The man blinked, then took a long and slow breath.

"Okay then. This is for real, huh?" The man said aloud, turning to look at both Messenger and Horn.

"Just talk to it," Messenger said in an annoyed voice. "Ask it about where it's from. How many of them are there."

"It just - do you mind if I just wrap my head around this first?" the silver haired man asked.

"There's no hurry I suppose," Messenger said.

After a little bit, the human who could sign turned back to look at Ray and offered him a gentle smile.

" _Hello. My name,_ " the man signed before he switched to speaking instead. "Is Armand."

" _My name is,_ " Ray signed first and like Armand, grunted out his name, "Ray."

"Ray," Armand repeated, before switching back to his hands. " _like a sun's stream of light?_ "

"Yes," Ray grunted in response.

" _That's a good name. I like it,_ " Armand signed with a smile on his face, his eyes full of warmth and kindness to them.

" _I like it too. My father gave it to me,_ " Ray signed back happily.

" _Well, all the better then,_ " Armand signed back with a warm chuckle to his voice. " _My father named me as well._ "

Hearing a cough by his side, Armand turned to look up at Messenger who gave him a look and he paused momentarily, confusing the orangutan in the cell.

" _What has been happening, Ray?_ " Armand asked.

" _They,_ " Ray's eyes quickly darted to both Messenger and Horn before finally landing back onto Armand's kind ones. " _Have been asking me questions,_ " he explained.

Upon seeing this, Armand's brow furrowed worriedly before he continued.

" _Have they hurt you? Hurt you and your friends?_ " Armand asked.

Ray took in a small breath and met both Horn's and Messenger's eyes once more, the both of them simply starring, not understanding the conversation that both he and Armand were having.

" _Some,_ " Ray signed back warily.

" _Do they hurt you while they ask you questions?_ " Armand signed this time.

" _No,_ " Ray answered. " _Before. Poke me with something sharp. Hurt. Put me and friends to sleep. Woke up. Hurt all over. Shaved hair. Here,_ " Ray pointed out to Armand by showing the older human the bald spot on his head.

"Alright," Messenger interrupted the two by stepping in. "Enough of that. From now on, I want to know what you're asking him and what his answers are, understood?"

Armand looked sideways at her, before slowly turning his gaze back towards Ray.

"Did you understand that?" he asked while signing and speaking at the same time.

"Yes," Ray responded.

At this, Ray noticed the silver haired human taking a deep breath before he continued.

"Are there a lot of people, um apes, like you? Where you are from?" Armand spoke and signed.

" _Lots,_ " Ray answered. Armand repeated him aloud to the other two humans.

"Hundreds?" Armand asked.

" _Many hundreds,_ " Ray signed.

"All of them orangutans?" the older man asked.

"Apes. All kinds," Ray replied. "Orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas. All together."

"Really?" Armand asked with a smile. "That's wild."

"Wild? Like animal?" Ray asked, not certain what the man had meant.

While traveling with Malcolm and Alexander those two would also allude the wilderness as wild, so that word confused Ray when Armand had said it. Armand however let out a laugh.

"No. Wild can mean - amazing. You know amazing?" Armand asked.

" _Yes,_ " Ray answered with a small pant-hoot of laughter.

He remembered how he, Ash and Blue Eyes had learned several new words from Alexander on their journey. Those being as 'cool' or 'awesome' and 'amazing.'

" _Human lights are amazing,_ " Ray continued.

"How fascinating," Armand said aloud as he lowered his hands.

"And what is so fascinating?" Messenger demanded.

"Oh. he made the sign for 'human' and then 'light.'" Armand explained with a joyful smile. "Makes me think of a human shining, you know, like a lightbulb," he explained turning to look up at Messenger's annoyed face.

Armand sighed and lowered his head slightly.

"What he means are 'electric' lights as opposed to something and natural as sunlight. This little one made up a sign. Must mean that he's probably never seen electric lights until just recently," Armand continued explaining.

"And what is the sign for 'electric light'?" Messenger asked in a sharp tone.

"It's just 'light.' Or rather was just 'light,' back in the day. What it means, thought, is that he's not like a parrot, or whatever. He can make up new words or signs in this case, when he needs them."

Armand then faced Ray again and smiled at him. It was a genuine big smile and was sort of alarming for the young orangutan. But that gentle twinkle within the man's eyes seemed to soothe him a bit.

* * *

And for a long time, both Ray and Armand just talked to each other. The older human was slow at first, but he quickly picked up speed with Ray. Some of the older man's signs were different as well, but Ray was quick to adapt to them as Armand had adapted to his. It was fascinating to Ray. Armand seemed to know quite a lot of signs that Ray did not, with most of them having to do with human things and not apes in general. So different, yet the same.

While they spoke to each other, Armand had to ask Ray himself many questions.

Many of the questions that were relayed to Armand from Messenger back to him were questions about the apes and battle between the apes and humans. For some reason, they seemed to know a good deal about what had happened. Must have been a human thing or something. He had recounted Malcolm telling him and the others that humans had strange machines that allowed them to talk to each other while they were not there. So ray was careful to not actually lie about anything, while still holding back a lot of what he knew.

The questions kept on coming and when he was finally asked about the war, Ray had been thinking on what to tell them.

" _We apes thought the humans were all gone. Elders watched them from afar, fighting each other. After a while, we didn't see them anymore. All gone. Almost forgot about them. I was born in the forest and never saw a human. But then they came. Came to make the human lights again._ " Ray explained.

"A hydroelectric generator, apparently," Messenger inserted, turning to talk to a new person, a short man dressed in blue like her, except that his clothing was different. "We got that much from the San Francisco people before we lost touch with them."

"And you tried to stop them from turning the lights on?" the man demanded with a scowl.

"This is Admiral Edwards," Messenger introduced calmly with a smile.

"No, we help humans turn on lights," Armand said aloud as he watched Ray's hand signs.

"Then what happened, then?" Edwards asked. "Why did the apes and humans fight each other?"

"Pope and Koba," Ray said softly before switching back to hand-speak. " _A trick from a chimpanzee and hatred from a bonobo. Both were treated poorly by humans, before. They both did not want to help humans, so they started war. Apes and humans died. It was a mistake, and our leader killed both Pope and Koba. Now apes only want peace._ " he explained.

"And yet you attacked the ship from Base Lewis McChord. So much for peace talk," Edwards said in a low voice.

" _Apes were attacked first. Apes only wanted to be left alone,_ " Ray gestured back.

"Really? Your friend tells us a different story." Edwards responded. "Who is Caesar?"

Upon hearing this, Ray froze. What was Fox telling them? What is he saying? And why did he tell them of Caesar?

After a brief silence the new man closed his eyes and simply nodded.

"Okay," Edwards said after a few more seconds. "If that is how it's going to be Prep him. Prep them both."

"And the one in the infirma-"

"That one too!" Edwards cut Horn off.

Upon hearing this, Armand's face changed to that of worry and he quickly looked at all of the others around him.

"W-what's going on? What do you mean prep them?" Armand asked hesitantly.

"You, are under contract. Your job is to ask those things the questions, not me. Do your job." Edwards said sternly.

* * *

 **Characters introduced in this chapter.**

 **Revelations**

 **Abigail Messenger - Second command from Diablo and a "wonderful" person from what we've seen in this chapter. XD**

 **Doctor Horn - The "good" doctor from Diablo.**

 **Admiral Edwards - The supposed Leader of Diablo.**

 **Armand - A citizen of Diablo who is probably the only person who knows sign language.**

 **Original Characters**

 **Linda - a Nurse who works at Diablo and is named after Linda Harrison from the original Planet of the Apes movie.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Sorry for the week long break everyone! I hope you all enjoy chapter 32!**

* * *

Stepping into the soft grounds of their forest, Grey and the others were met with a sense of familiarity. The woods embracing them with their long branches that stretched out far and wide, as if they were being welcomed back into the forest itself. Hearing the reports behind him, Grey slowly turned around and eyed the human city. Where he and the other warriors that came with him, had abandoned Caesar and the rest of their kin. A deep frown set upon his features, Grey simply stood there and watched as the sounds of gunfire echoed in the distance. Never ending.

Hearing soft footsteps behind him, Grey turned slowly to see Pongo approaching him. The chimpanzee had then walked up towards Grey and stood next to him, also watching the fighting that was going on in the distance between Caesar and the humans.

" _They are going to die fighting the human soldiers,_ " Pongo signed.

"Yes," Grey answered simply, still watching.

" _They will die and we will have a future,_ " Pongo continued. " _If we are lucky, Caesar, his followers and the human soldiers will all kill each other. Leave us in peace. Like Red said. Like what you wanted. What we wanted._ "

Grey had just turned to look at Pongo and was going to say something before he was interrupted by an explosion. Glancing back towards the bridge, Grey, Pongo and the rest of the apes could see the fight between both man and ape occuring in the distance. Grey's frown deepened as he watched the flames engulfing the top portion of the giant bridge. He knew that Caesar was smarter than that. The apes would have feint an attack from up on high and quickly abandoned the place. A hit and run tactic that they've been doing for quite a while now. For all the humans seem to muster with their weapons, they did not seem very bright when it comes to fighting. But even then, this was a fight that maybe even the apes could not win in the long run. They may have the numbers but the humans had the majority of the weapons, weapons that had already dwindled their forces. Even more so now, since half of the ape warriors as well as all of the gorillas from the Gorilla Guard are here now, in the forest. Leaving Caesar and the rest of the apes to fend for themselves.

" _Does Caesar's apes know about us?_ " Grey asked slowly.

" _They shouldn't know. We did as it was planned by Red. Lied to other apes that we were going eastward to look for supplies. Also made sure no one saw us leave,_ " Pongo gestured back.

At this, Grey furrowed his brows, taking notice that the humans were barricading up the southern end of the bridge. Their only entry and exit to the human city. He narrowed his eyes at the humans but huffed out a breath before he slowly turned to look at Pongo and the rest of the other warriors, whom didn't seem to notice the humans building a wall at the end of the bridge like he did.

"Come," Grey spoke out. " _Let us go._ "

Once the order was given to them, Grey and the other apes silently leaped into the trees and made their way deeper into the forest. To the rendezvous point where they were to meet up with Red, Rex and the other followers.

…

Ash had felt as if he had just dozed off again when he woke up with a jolt as humans, garbed in those orange colors with masks on their faces came rushing into his room. He hooted in alarm and they all grabbed at him and yanked him from his sleeping area, taking him elsewhere. Before he knew it, Ash was firmly strapped down onto a hard chair and cold hard clamps were placed all over his body as his green eyes wildly look about. They had also forced his mouth open and stuck something in.

"Don't spit it out monkey," one of the humans in orange warned him before taking their leave.

Breathing through his nose quickly, Ash then looked around himself, noticing several humans standing at the other end of the room. There was four of them total, one of them looked to be female and the oldest looking human seemed to be shedding tears. Why?

"Please no more," the grey haired human said to the other three. "We can't use this one. He's still recoveri-"

"Do. Your. Job," the smaller human grounded out at the taller older man. "I will not ask again."

After this the older human glanced back at Ash and the lights around them suddenly turned off, throwing them all in darkness. Suddenly a light blared into Ash's face, causing him to squirm and try to get away from it, tugging at his bindings.

Before Ash could comprehend on what was going on, he suddenly felt every muscle within his body trying to tear themselves from his bone. He screeched in pain and surprise as he violently shook within the chair, tremors of pain wracking his whole being.

Once it was over, it left him tired, panting and trembling, wondering on what they had just done to him. He then saw the older human moving into the light, just enough so that Ash could see his hands. He then noticed elder human turning halfway into the darkness and say something, his voice shaky and wavering which was quickly interrupted by a more forceful tone. Slowly the human had turned back around and began asking him questions.

" _Who was Caesar? How many apes were there? How many guns did they have?_ "

At first Ash didn't answer them, wondering on how they had gotten these information. But when he lingered on in silence, his body suddenly flared up again, causing him to make weak noises into the air before his body went limp again. This went on and on and on for who knew how long but eventually Ash relented, answering them through hand-speak, telling them what they wanted to hear just so that the awful pain would go away.

" _How many apes where there?_ " Ash had seen the hand gestures.

" _Hundreds? Thousands?_ " Ash would answer desperately, earning him a shock.

" _Does Caesar plan to wipe out all of humanity?_ " he saw the next question.

" _Yes. Yes. No. No. Only peace,_ " Ash replied, earning him yet another long shock, causing him to croak out in pain.

But no matter what he had answered, no matter what he gave them though, the torture never stopped. It kept going and going and going, right up until Ash could no longer form any signs at all and drool escaped the sides of his mouth as his head hung low. Groaning only slightly when his body tensed up from the shock they were giving him, only for him to go slack again in his chair.

Eventually they threw Ash back into one of the glass cell cages but found out that he was alone in them. Ash had looked around for Ray and Fox but found them, not there. They had given him fruit and water, and for a little while he had thought that they were done with him.

Oh how wrong was he.

Soon enough they came for him again and he tried to fight the humans but was much too weak to do anything. He merely only groaned in pain as he roughly yanked him up from the ground and threw him back into that awful chair, all for everything to start once again. He tried to block out the pain within his mind, to vanish within the depths of his memories, trying his best to ignore of what the humans were doing to his body. For a little while he did just that, Ash was unable to distinguish what was real and what was an illusion to him but eventually his blood and bones called him back, back to the fear and agony of the real world - and the questions. Ash himself did not see the humans in the darkness but he did see the human elder who was looking at him with eyes as dark as the deepest holes. He could be imagining it though, but Ash was sure he saw streams of what looked like water running down the older human's cheeks.

Finally, the questions ended, with the pain lingering, settling deep within his bones to which he couldn't help but whimper in pain from where he sat. Looking around, his vision started to fade in and out and suddenly he felt a gentle heavy weight placing itself upon his forehead. Blinking slowly, Ash turned his eyes upwards and he could now see the teary eyes of the human elder who had asked him those question with his own hand-speak.

"Oh lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love." Ash could hear the human say softly to him.

With a few more huffs from him, Ash tiredly closed his eyes and what remained of the light within the room finally faded away.

…

Trudging along the forest floor, Cornelia followed the rest of the apes as they moved further into the woods. As she walked along her thoughts wandered backwards. Back to a time, a time when she herself was small and among many of the wild apes of her own family. Food was plenty, her family and other dispersed band of apes usually came together not far from the river of her old home. She could clearly remember one such gathering, not long before the humans had caught her and took her forever away from the land of her birth. Cornelia couldn't help but smile to herself sadly as she remembered these things. It had been such a crazy time then. With many other younglings to play with. The males would bluster at one another and the females, when they came of age, would leave their bands to seek out others and mate, with the older apes renewing acquaintances with one another. One of the best of her early life, if Cornelia could recall.

Life after the great awakening had also been like that for her as well. Caesar had resisted the tendency of the apes to split up into smaller groups for survival. He had unified them, taught them how to hunt and forage for strange foods of their new home. Together they all learned how to build nests, homes; a village where all were welcomed, where every evening was like the great reunions of her youth. Except that in every single way, larger. It was not merely a chimp gathering like those of her youth but a gathering that included all of the apes, from the beautiful bonobos, the strong gorillas and wise orangutans. Each kind of ape had their own instincts and customs that were quite alien to one another. Yet, under Caesar's leadership and guidance, the many had eventually became one.

All together. All strong.

But now… Thanks to Pope and Koba, all of that was gone. The village that they had worked so hard for, built together, was now burned down to ruins. Leaving all of the apes in a sense of foreboding within the forest's presence.

Blinking, Cornelia turned her head as she felt Tinker taking a firm grip on her arm.

" _Do not worry. We will find a new home. One where we can all be safe,_ " Tinker assured with a small smile to her face.

" _Yes, a new home. For all apes,_ " Cornelia signed back as she adjust her youngest son within her arms.

Hearing a few crunching leaves behind them, both Cornelia and Tinker turned around, noticing Ajax approaching the both of them.

" _Ajax,_ " Cornelia greeted the younger gorilla.

Ajax nodded at Cornelia and then nodded at Tinker, who gently returned the gesture to him.

" _I wish you both would consider riding instead,_ " Ajax huffed as he turned to look at Cornelia.

At this, Cornelia frowned. Horses were in short supply. Most of their warriors back in the city with Caesar had most of them and they were the best at riding them. While most of the ones they did have with them were pack animals. Ones that were used to carry many of the heavy things.

" _We have only a few horses that are good for riding,_ " Cornelia explained. " _Oaka is riding one of them - she is pregnant, and very near her time. The others are for the wounded apes._ "

" _You were ill not so long ago. And you are queen. And you her second,_ " Ajax nodded to Tinker. " _You both must be safely guarded until then._ "

Cornelia made a snorting noise as she waived Ajax off.

" _I am no longer ill,_ " Cornelia explained.

" _I may be second to Cornelia but I am an ape. I have legs and am able to walk, so I will,_ " Tinker chimed in.

At this, Ajax gave the two females an unsure look.

" _We… could carry you both,_ " Ajax suggested instead. " _We could make a litter and two gorillas, one for each of you, they could bear it._ "

" _Are we both game to you? We are not some animals that are carried home after a hunt Ajax,_ " Cornelia shot the young gorilla a hard stare. " _We move at the pace of our slowest member here. Tinker nor I, are the slowest. When everyone who cannot match our pace has a mount, then we shall take one. Is that clear?!_ " Cornelia reprimanded.

" _As you say,_ " Ajax answered back after a brief quiet.

Ajax himself didn't look happy about both Cornelia and Tinker walking along with the others but he also didn't leave their side. Tinker looked back and forth between her friend and Ajax before she reached and hand out and gently placed it upon the younger gorilla's forearm, offering him a sweet smile.

" _What matters is that we take care of our weakest members first. If we cannot take care of them, then how are we supposed to take care of ourselves?_ " Tinker signed to Ajax.

Ajax fierce green eyes darted from Cornelia to Tinker again in quick succession before he nodded once at them. At this, Tinker pulled her arm back and turned towards Cornelia.

" _Be more gentle. Ajax is only doing his job to insure our safety. He is having a tough time too,_ " Tinker reminded her friend.

At this, Cornelia relaxed herself, noticing that she might have been a bit too upfront with Ajax, looking to the said ape and nodded once at him who returned the gesture.

" _Is there something else you would like to tell us Ajax?_ " Cornelia asked the younger gorilla as he still didn't make the move to leave.

" _Andy and the other ape scouts had returned,_ " Ajax finally signed back. " _I have recommendations on how we should nest for the night._ "

So both Cornelia and Tinker listened closely to Ajax's recommendations, the one he had gone over with both Andy and Jeanpierre. At this both the queen and her hand maid were unsure if they should nest at all but given the circumstances and how far they've been travelling. With the many young ones, old, and wounded, they all surely needed a momentary rest. It was then Cornelia made her choice, giving Ajax the okay.

Gratefully Ajax then led both Cornelia and Tinker to the resting spot, both pleasantly surprised to see that many of the gorillas had gone ahead and begun preparations. A fire had been started, a small one so that the beacon of smoke did not call attention to their location. Beds and nesting areas were made for the queen and her attendants.

Soon after, the children and younger females were sent off to forage. The Gorilla Guards went back to patrolling while many of their male warriors had gone to hunt for what they could find. Both Cornelia and Tinker thanked Ajax before they saw him off to join the others on patrol, leaving the two there. As Cornelia had gone off to assist with the nest preparations while Tinker had stayed behind to tend to their still wounded. While Cornelia and the other females were weaving their nests together, the queen herself noticed Red approaching her. As the rusted-haired gorilla approached, he stopped a ways away from Cornelia and signaled grunted, to grab her attention.

" _Red? What is it?_ " Cornelia paused in her work and approached the younger but bigger gorilla.

" _It is Oaka… She had insisted on helping to dig for roots with the others,_ " Red signed.

" _And? What of it? Is something wrong?_ " Cornelia asked, confused.

" _She…_ " Red started to sign but paused nervously, eyes darting up to the canopy.

At this, Cornelia thought the red haired gorilla looked a little embarrassed. Then it struck her. Males were often reluctant to discuss certain female issues. She had remembered fondly of how she had Blue Eyes in her own belly and Caesar himself was at times, at a lost on what to do.

" _Has she gone into labor? How long ago?_ " Cornelia signed, shaking that memory away for the moment.

At this Red stared back at Cornelia blankly, his shoulders slightly drooping, seeming to look more lost at what she was asking of him. At this Cornelia huffed.

" _Is she having the baby?_ " Cornelia asked this time.

"Oh," Red hooted in surprise, signaling in affirmative. " _I think so._ "

" _Then alert the females,_ " Cornelia signed to the rusted hair colored gorilla. " _Where is she?_ "

" _I show you. Come,_ " Red gestured to Cornelia.

" _Very well,_ " Cornelia answered as she looked up to a small section of a tree." Cornelius?" she hooted to the small ape sleeping in his perch.

With an audible yawn, Cornelius tiredly stretched his limbs before he sleepily climbed down from his spot and into his mother's arms. Normally Cornelia would ask Tinker to watch over her young one, but since Tinker was most likely on the other side of the camp and helping the other females, she didn't need to be bothered.

" _Show me where Oaka is,_ " Cornelia finally turned to look up at Red.

...

Blue Eyes laid flat in the scrubby, spiky weeks at the top of the hill that looked down upon the strange buildings on the rocky beach below. The crashing waves of the sea was just beyond the small bay, next to a rather large facility of sorts that also had two rather large dome structures that reminded Blue Eyes of the sanctuary back near the human city. To the side he could see an assortment of boats and ships that floated nearby, all different shapes and sizes.

The four of them had been traveling for a few days, just Blue Eyes, Alexander, Malcolm and Feliz. Carla had stayed behind to make sure that she could buy them some time and divert their attention for the time being. That and the older woman was sure that she couldn't make such a long trip. That was where Feliz came into the picture. She knew exactly where to go and led all of them there. To the facility where they were keeping Ash, Ray and Fox. While Carla stayed behind to buy them some time.

"This looks like the place," Malcolm breathed as he placed down the binoculars in his hands. "See that? All those barbed wires surrounding the area? I'm betting that's where they're keeping our boys.

"This is where the lights come from? For you?" Blue Eyes asked as he turned towards Feliz who was laying down right besides the three of them, in between him and Alexander.

"Yeah? What about it?" Feliz asked in return.

As the teen girl looked at the chimpanzee, she noticed that the blue eyed ape was waiting for her to explain.

"Oh! It's a nuclear reactor," Feliz responded in a whisper. "You know, it makes power out of nuclear stuff. Like radiation."

Blue Eyes made a face as he turned back to look at the area before turning back to look at Feliz.

"Not use water?" Blue Eyes asked curiously not seeing any water source running through it.

"No, silly," Feliz said to Blue Eyes.

As Blue Eyes curiously met the girl's gaze, he noticed Feliz's face turning a peculiar shade of pink.

"Okay, I don't understand it either. But I've heard if you work there too long, you get sick, because there's some kind of leak there," Feliz explained.

"Then why are people still working there? Shouldn't they close it off and quarantined it?" Alexander jumped in. "For safety purposes?"

"They can't. They need the place, just as much as we do, to power the electricity. Jack told me that if it ever really messes up, the explosion will be so big we wouldn't even hear it way over in Esperanza," she stated, turning back to look at both Blue Eyes and Alexander who merely blinked at her in response. "Ugh! Because we'd be dead before the sound even got there," she finished with a grunt.

Upon hearing this, Blue Eyes turned back to look down at the place with a new respect towards it. To him, this reactor thing didn't look all that dangerous. But the things that humans had build were a lot more terrible than they would appear. So he the fact that there was something that could destroy humans and apes alike without them hearing it wouldn't be all that too far fetched.

"We usually make with what we have. Even if it is quite dangerous," Malcolm voiced in slowly, turning to look at the youngsters.

"So you think Ray and Ash are down there?" Alexander asked, changing the subject.

"Well, if they're not. I don't know where they are," Feliz answered back. "But I'm about-" Feliz paused to make a few smacking sounds with her lips, "ninety percent sure that this is the place. I mean it has all of the facilities. The medical bay area and whatever else they need there," she explained.

At this, Blue Eyes slowly turned his sights back onto this particular place, have never seen or imagined such and unwelcoming landscape. His home, back in the forest was a land of mist and gentle rain that stretched far and thin. And if one were to go too far from the sea, on the sunrise side of the mountains the land became drier. But not like this. The few trees that grew here looked as if they were bleached to the bone, all withered and dry, dead looking. The ground was as dry as it felt, with the sun overcasting its harsh heat onto the land, causing the soil to crack and separate from each other. The land here, to Blue Eyes, looked like it had been killed with it's intense head and non vegetation. Definitely not a place for apes, nor a home he would wish upon anyone.

But to Blue Eyes' surprise. He had noticed small green sprouts, here and there. Tiny seedlings that pushed sunward through the ash of the earth as if they grew from the old. And that was when Blue Eye learned that even here, in this place of dust, life followed after death.

"Hello? You're spacing out again," Feliz interrupted Blue Eyes' train of thought as she snapped her fingers in front of him, causing him to blink and give her his full attention. "Does he always do this?" Feliz asked as she looked past Blue Eyes to Alexander and Malcolm.

"More than you can think of," The teen boy next to Blue Eyes sighed aloud, while Malcolm merely chuckled quietly to himself.

"Is there a safer place for us to go to? To talk," Malcolm asked slowly.

"Uh yeah. Follow me," Feliz piped up as she rose back up onto her feet and started walking away.

The group of four retreated further into the hills, to an area where the remains of human houses were in shambles. They all managed to find a line of trees and thorn bushes along the banks of a stream so shallow it barely came up to Blue Eyes' knees as he stood in it.

"Feliz. Can you tell us more about Diablo?" Malcolm asked as they walked along the bank of the small stream.

"What? Oh. Most of what I know, I got from Jack actually," Felized said aloud from the front. "I was little when the Diablo people came. Esperanza was already a town by then, and we were trying to get along. But you know… There was some trouble with the folks over in the big valley. Crazy people, you know? Jack says that they would… Eat people sometimes…"

It was at this point, Feliz stopped in her track to turn around and fully address all of them.

"Back then, a few of those people would show up and we would give them food and stuff. Just so that they would go away. Leave us alone… But Jack said he always worried that one day they would come and take everything, and kills us too, or worse…" Feliz trailed off a bit, her eyes looking far off in the distance before she blinked and met their gaze once more. "And then one day these people turn up from the other direction, from over by the sea."

"Diablo?" Alexander asked, with Feliz silently nodding once at him.

"They said they were from the government or something, and that they could protect us and give us electricity. All we had to do was pick a few people every year to be in their army or something. Just for a couple of years, you know. Jack had said that it wasn't a good deal then, but it was better than what those other people in the big valley was offering…" Feliz explained. "My mom was one of the first ones to volunteer."

Blue Eyes and Alexander then noticed the girl biting her bottom lip as she slowly wrapped her hands around her arms.

"What happened to your mom?" Alexander asked quietly.

For a moment Feliz didn't say anything. But then the teen girl heaved out a deep sigh and closed her eyes.

"She… She got killed. Fighting down south," Feliz spoke in a equally quiet voice.

"Your. Father?" Blue Eyes asked curiously.

"The plague got him apparently. I was too young to even remember my dad," Feliz explained with a sad smile.

" _Sorry,_ " Blue Eyes gestured.

At that, Feliz smiled at Blue Eyes. She may have not known hand-speak like he did but she did catch on quickly to what he signed sometimes. She was a bit smart like that.

"It's okay. I have both Jack and Carla now. And I know what you're all thinking, won't they be worried about me? Yeah, sure. But they both know that I can take care of myself." Feliz announced.

"I believe it," Malcolm spoke up with a giant grin, "you seem to have a good head upon your shoulders. Very self aware," he appraised.

"Why thank you very much Mr. Malcolm," Feliz responded with a smile of her own. "At least someone can see the good that I can do."

"Why. help us? Why. help apes? Help me?" Blue Eyes asked curiously.

"Funny you should ask that. I've been wondering that myself," Feliz said aloud as she placed a hand on her hips, while she tapped her chin with the other, letting her eyes gaze towards the stars. "Maybe it was because I felt bad. Sorry that we caught your two friends, Ash and Ray," Feliz then looked back down at them and crossed her arms as she kicked at little at the shrub near her feet. "Jack's heart's in the right place when it comes to us you know? He takes care of us and all, in Esperanza. So I'm sure he really didn't mean it when he traded your two friends off to the people in Diablo…"

Feliz then paused for a moment and made eye contact with just Blue Eyes, as if she were looking from something within him.

"A few days ago. I had just thought that you guys were just mindless raving animals, or even monsters like my Gram used to say, that was just one thing. But now, since I've met you, Ash and Ray? Actually seen you guys. I figured that maybe you're all not so different after all. Something to the line of… like me you know? Like us," Feliz explained as she gestured towards herself and then to Alexander and Malcolm. "And you guys shouldn't be put in cages, or locked up, or tied to a pole. I know I wouldn't like it."

Feliz then took in a lungful of air and sighed loudly before she cast her eyes into the distance, looking somewhere far where they couldn't see.

"Now I don't know what they're doing to Ash and Ray or that other one in Diablo, but you know what I mean right? It's like how my Gram used to say, everything that's born will eventually die, and the trick is to have the time in between not be purely terrible. And as Carla had put it. Not everyone is essentially born evil or bad, it is the conditions in what they were thrown in, that changes them and make them who they are…"

Feliz then turned back to look at Blue Eyes.

"And I don't want Ash and Ray to be like that. I want them to be able to choose their own path and not let their views be skewed by what we've done," Feliz finished.

Upon hearing this come from the teen girl, Blue Eyes could see giant grins upon both Malcolm and Alexander. But to him, it was startling to hear Feliz say such a thing for apes. The words were different to him, but it was so like what many of the elder had said of their days in captivity. It also, without warning, prompted him to remember when Koba was about to kill Ash. Ash had spoken from his heart, said to Koba what many of the other apes were thinking at the time - that what Koba was doing, was wrong, that it went against everything that they had grown up believing in. Back then, only Ash had the courage to speak that way to Koba. His words might have even soften Koba's heart a little.

Instead though, Koba had tried to end Ash's life. Blue Eyes knew that Ash hadn't expected for Koba to nearly kill him - some form of punishment or rebuke, maybe, or a show of dominance from the older ape - but until that day, that very moment, the idea of ape killing ape was unthinkable. And Koba nearly crossed that threshold. But if Ash's words hadn't changed Koba's heart then, they sure had changed Blue Eyes'. Prompting him to scream out to the older bonobo. Yelling for Koba to leave Ash be and snapping Koba from his rage induced haze, saving Ash from his demise. Maybe, if just maybe. If Koba, Pope or any of the other elder apes were brought up differently. Then maybe they wouldn't have gone to war with the humans. Just maybe...

"You're doing it again," Feliz spoke up, snapping Blue Eyes from his thoughts once more, causing him to frown at her. "This guy," Feliz said to the other two humans while shaking her head slowly and jutting her thumb in Blue Eyes' direction.

"Well, I guess that settles it," Malcolm announced as he looked around himself. "From this point onwards, it is definitely going to get a lot more dangerous. For everyone."

"Yes," Blue Eyes voiced, agreeing with Malcolm before he turned back to Feliz. "You. Feliz. Should go home."

"What?" Feliz asked confusingly, turning to look at the sky eyed ape.

"Dangerous," Blue Eyes informed the teen girl.

"Dangerous? Really? Look around us, everywhere is dangerous Blue Eyes," Feliz confirmed.

"You future. For humans," Blue Eyes simply answered, causing Feliz to freeze and turn back to look at him incredulously.

"What does that mean?" Feliz asked, narrowing her eyes at Blue Eyes.

As Feliz was looking at the ape prince, her eyes suddenly grew big and wide.

"Are you suggesting? Is he suggesti-"

"H-he means well. Honest." Alexander quickly jumped in between Feliz and Blue Eyes, who was looking between the both of them, still confused. "They've been through a lot. Trust me on this."

At this, Feliz gave Blue Eyes a crossed look but quickly heaved out a sigh, exhaling deeply all the while. She then perked up and walked around Alex, stopping right in front of Blue Eyes and met his gaze.

"Look you. And I want to make sure that you understand," Feliz said to Blue Eyes, grabbing his attention. "I am not just the future for humans. Alexander, his dad and you too. We 'Are' the future. All of us. For both species. I'm as important to humans just as you are to apes. You understand?"

There was a brief silence between all of them. Blue Eyes trying to make out and understand Feliz's words while the girl merely frowned at him. Eventually though, Blue Eyes thought he understood the girl's words and nodded at her, noticing the fierceness within her eyes abating slowly.

"That was very wise of you to say Feliz," Malcolm suddenly spoke up, causing Feliz to look up at him.

"Ugh, yeah sure, whatever. Anyways. What're you all going to do? Did you guys even plan on getting in there? How are you all even going to get them all out?" Feliz asked, going beet red in the face as she crossed her arms.

"Well think of something," Alexander perked up. "Blue Eyes is right though. It's not safe here for you. You should just go back home."

"And who was it that brought you guys all out here without being found out?" Feliz snapped back.

"Look," Malcolm walked up to the teen girl this time. "I. We appreciate all the help that you and Carla has given us. Truely. But like I've said. From here on out it is going to get much more dangerous. Even we don't know what will happen and we don't want you to get caught up in the middle of it. You're still very young and from what I can see, a family to go back home to."

At this, Feliz huffed through her nose as she looked away but then turned back to the others again.

"Tell you all what," Feliz perked up suddenly with a smooth smile upon her lips. "How about I go down there and… Oh, I don't know. See what I can find out."

"No. We can't ask you to do that. Did you not hear what I just said?" Malcolm said aloud with both Blue Eyes and Alexander agreeing.

"Yeah sure, I heard ya. But you seem to have forgotten that I've already said that I can take care of myself pretty well," Feliz announced as she walked around with her hands behind her head. " Will be going into Diablo dangerous? Yeah, sure," Feliz frowned as she looked away, before a smile replaced her features once more. "Or not. Because they'd never let me in. Heh, but y'know. There's a little town just around the corner there, Avila Point. All those soldiers and scientists need people to cook and clean for them. Paint their boats and - whatever else they need. Actually one of my cousins got work here last year if I remember correctly."

"What are you getting at?" Alexander asked curiously.

"I'm saying that you three need help," Feliz suddenly spoke aloud, turning to face them. "Look, Avila Point is just right outside of the gates and they really don't keep watch all that closely of who comes and goes. So I'll just walk on in and see if anyone is talking. I don't even need to lie. I'll just tell'em that I'm from Esperanza, and am curious about what happens to my monkeys." Feliz explained, noticing the deep frown on Blue Eyes' face. "Gotta make it believable baby Blue," Feliz smiled at Blue Eyes, batting her lashes at him.

The three of them looked at one another, unsure of this plan. It was then Malcolm who stepped up to Feliz.

"You do have a point. You know this area much better than we do. Even if we somehow got in there, we wouldn't even know the first idea of where they're keeping the others," Malcolm lamented. "You sure you want to do this? I'm not going to stop you, but…"

"It's okay. I want to do this. Trust me," Feliz said aloud.

Blue Eyes frowned, seeing the teen girl smiling widely, even though they all knew she was going into danger. Why would she be happy about it? It honestly didn't make any sense to him. But then again, he never understood humans much and they always seem to surprise him.

Walking up to Feliz, Blue Eyes stared up at the teen girl momentarily before he reached out and touched her arm.

"Safe?" Blue Eyes said quietly.

At this, Feliz offered Blue Eyes a smile, one full of warmth and gentleness to it.

"I'll be safe. I promise," Feliz answered back. "The worst that could happen is someone will try to make me go back home," she concluded.

Blue Eyes then glanced down at his feet, shifting his weight back and forth on his two feet before looking back up to meet Feliz's eyes again.

"Trust?" Blue Eyes finally said aloud in a soft voice.

"Trust," Feliz repeated in a warm tone.

...

As Cornelia followed Red further and further into the woods, she was quite impressed by how far Oaka had managed to travel, given her condition. She knew that Oaka was, well… Rather headstrong for a female but very quick witted and fair nonetheless. However, she was beginning to question Oaka's judgement in finding edible roots, this was far from the best place to find them. Most of the roots grew in more open ground, such as meadows, or near water. Why had Oaka decided to go deeper into the forest instead of going near the creek? If she had gone near the creek then she wouldn't have to travel so far.

" _Was Oaka alone when she went to go find roots?_ " Cornelia asked Red as she shifted Cornelius within her arms.

" _I think she was,_ " Red replied.

At this, Cornelia stopped in front of Red and glared up at the younger gorilla.

" _Did you not see her?_ " Cornelia asked with a frustrated huff.

At this, Red blinked down at her with wide green eyes before he reached up and scratched at the side of his head, looking as if he didn't know what to say to her.

" _No, Maple told me,_ " Red explained.

" _So Maple was with her?_ " Cornelia questioned, her eyes narrowing up at Red.

As Cornelia watched Red, she took notice of the bigger gorilla's hackles slightly raising. Red himself edging slightly towards her. Even knowing this though, Cornelia kept calm. She knew Red was lying the moment he told her that Maple had informed him of Oaka. She and Tinker had seen Maple going along with Lake towards the river to fish earlier and was nowhere close to where Oaka was at the time. Most of the females themselves did of the gathering of plants and herbs, while the majority of the males did all of the hunting. That and Oaka would definitely know better than to look for roots way out here, where danger lurks even now.

Red himself wouldn't know such things like searching for roots as he was not in the minority of males that helped foraged.

Cornelia then blinked in surprise and peered past Red.

" _Oh, I think I see her now!_ " Cornelia signed excitedly with a smile. " _There she is._ " She hooted happily.

A look of puzzlement crossed Red's face as he turned to look. The moment he rounded himself though, all Red saw nothing but the empty woods before him. Roaring in anger, Red quickly spun around and lunged towards Cornelia, only to find empty air where she had stood. Looking around wildly, Red huffed to himself, wondering where the female chimpanzee had disappeared to. But then there was sound above him and he looked up, seeing the female quickly scrambling up a tree, with the newborn prince clinging onto her back.

"Stop! Come down!" Red shouted.

Ignoring Red's cries, Cornelia launched herself towards the next tree and nearly missed grabbing the branch, due to her misjudgement. Months heavy with child, then a hard birth and sickness that followed had taken their toll on her. Cornelia herself wasn't quite capable of what her mind thought it was at the moment but she must make due for now. For her safety and Cornelius'.

As Cornelia swung into the next tree, she spared a glance backwards, seeing Red racing along the ground behind her, his rifle still slung onto his back. So his plan was most likely to not kill her or Cornelius. Or maybe it was but he wanted to do so quietly and out of vicinity of the others.

Swinging through the trees quickly, Cornelia noticed another ape swinging into her vision, towards her right. She was relieved, as she turned to greet the other ape but froze when she saw Grey. She stopped in her swing and stared at the other male, who seem to have just noticed her as well and locked eyes with her. If Cornelia could recall, Grey was supposed to be with Caesar, with the warriors, back in the human city. Helping him… But why was he here? Why was he out in the woods with…

" _Cornelia?_ " Grey gestured towards her.

Then it dawned on her and she put two and two together. Grey and Red.

Cornelius had let out a squeak in sheer delight as Cornelia hurled herself the opposite direction from where she was going, passing over Red, heading towards the mountain that loomed in the distance. As Cornelia swung through the trees as fast as her limbs would carry her, she heard both Red and Grey's cries behind her. As she swung on though, she could make out two more chimps, coming in from the direction where Red had been leading her.

Now she was panicking as she raced through the treetops. What were Grey and Red planning? Why are they doing this? Although she didn't know Red that well to understand why the gorilla was doing this but she knew Grey. Grey, although not as close to her nor Caesar like he was with Koba, he was still considered a friend nonetheless. And after Koba's supposed demise, to which only a few, herself included, knowing the truth of the bonobo's status. Grey had came back to both her and Caesar, swearing his allegiance to them.

But now she was questioning if Grey had even meant it. Maybe he harbored some deep seated hatred for Caesar, for letting go of Koba during their fight? Oh how foolish of both of her and Caesar to even consider that Grey would change his ways.

Reaching the edge of the redwoods and dropping down into an open meadow, Cornelia sprinted across it on all fours. As she ran, she could now hear the chimps behind hooting, now, and knew that they were hunting her like an animal, trying to drive her where they wanted her to go.

As soon as she made it across the field, Cornelia leapt into branches of the lower growing oaks and maples. She was starting to feel for climbing again; her lungs were beginning to burn with each breath she took, and the sweat in her nose made her think of those first heady days of freedom that she had with Caesar and the others. Almost constantly running from the humans, rarely sleeping, carrying the wounded and never knowing what they would face next - but knowing that at least they would face whatever came for them as free apes.

But back then, it had been humans chasing them, not apes like now.

For the moment, Cornelia forced herself to stop thinking and allowed instincts to take over. She was much lighter than the males that were chasing her, even with her little Cornelius clinging onto her back. So she chose the narrower, fainter pathways through the trees in hopes that they would slow down her chasers and force them to take another route. Lest they grab onto the lighter branches, breaking them with their heavier weight and falling towards the ground below. But time was not on her side, as soon enough, it will be dark, too dark for any of them to see, and then it would be a new set of problems entirely.

As she swung through the trees, Cornelia did not see Pongo until he was right on her. He had swung in from her right blind spot and grabbed at her wrist. She turned to look and could see his mouth, baring his teeth in a threat display at her and with that something happened inside of her. The way Pongo was displaying his threatening gesture, it was as like if an predator was reaching for her child. With this, heat suddenly erupted from within her stomach.

Cornelia had been upset and experienced anger before but she had never known rage.

Cornelia suddenly swung her free hand around, grabbing Pongo's ear and dug her claws deep into it. Surprised by this, Pongo screeched in pain, not before Cornelia suddenly lunged and fastened her teeth upon his face. Pongo shrilled even louder now and Cornelia was only vaguely aware that they were now both falling towards the ground. Landing onto the stoney earth beneath, with Cornelia on top she kept attacking at the male underneath her and she was going to keep attacking, violently striking Pongo in the face, chest and stomach until he either left or stopped moving underneath her altogether. With his continued painful shrieking, Pongo tried to pull away from Cornelia, beating at her chest to push her off but one of her canines had cut through his lip and was stuck there, causing him to unable to get free. Growling in anger, Cornelia yanked at Pongo's ear with her hand until it tore straight off of his head, causing him to let out a deafening cry of pain.

With a final yelping shrill, Pongo finally broke away from Cornelia then, her tooth ripping right through his lip. Cornelia was almost disappointed as she watched Pongo bolt away from her, clutching at the side of his head as he weaved off pathetically through the trees towards safety.

As Cornelia stood there, she quickly spat the blood from her mouth onto the ground as she watched Pongo leave. As her fury subsided though, Cornelia quickly glanced about, worriedly looking for her little one. Hearing a happy chirp from behind her, relief suddenly flooded her system as Cornelia turned her head around and saw that her little Cornelius had somehow clung onto her back the entire time.

With her youngest safe, Cornelia quickly bolted up towards the next tree as she heard other chimps converging from what now seemed like every direction.


	33. Chapter 33

As early dawn came the next day Winter slowly stirred from his sleep. Stretching his tired limbs, he had let out a long yawn and slowly scratched at his chest slowly. He had sat up from his makeshift bed of branches on the forest floor and had taken the early watch for the group, just after sundown, before being relieved by Rex, another of the Gorilla Guard. As he sat there in the silent, Winter reached down and furrowed his brows when he felt the ground empty beside him. Curiously he got up and started to look around himself, searching for the gun that was with him when he had slept, he was sure that he had it.

"Move. Slowly," someone said aloud, causing Winter to freeze.

Slowly, Winter looked over his shoulder and saw that Red was standing behind him, holding both his own gun and Winter's.

" _Oh, I thought I had lost that,_ " Winter signed in relief as he turned around and reached out. "Thank-"

"Sit. Down," Red ordered, cutting Winter off.

Winter flinched at Red's tone of voice but did as he was told nonetheless, albeit confusingly, sitting his haunches back into his brambled nest.

As he sat down though, Winter noticed that something was amiss. Peering past Red, he could make out the camp where the apes were all supposed to be, except the females, children and elders were all surrounded by several apes with guns, most of them chimpanzees. One of them Winter noticed was Grey, who seemed to be overseeing the group. But that didn't make sense. Why was Grey and the others ape warriors there? Were they not supposed to be back in the human city, fighting with Caesar?

Looking on, Winter noticed that separate from the females, children and elders were several members of the Gorilla Guard and some of the chimpanzee warriors that had stayed in the forest. He could see that three of them were definitely Juno, Jeanpierre and Andy, the latter seeming to be unconscious with a dark red spot on his head, indicating a pretty bad looking head wound. They all had their hands and feet tied with rope and they, too, were closely guarded by Rex and several other chimpanzee warriors.

"W-what," Winter tried to speak at first but swallowed and resorted to hand-speak instead. " _What is going on?_ " He asked.

"Caesar. Has been. Defeated," Red informed Winter, seeing the white gorilla's eyes widening. "All. Of our. Brothers. Who stayed. In city. With Caesar. Died."

Winter could hear the words coming out of Red's mouth but they hardly seemed to make sense. Their entire army, with Caesar, dead? How could it be though?

As he thought on that, Winter couldn't help but remember the terrible human weapon that he saw strike near them several days earlier. Realizing that maybe the humans could have had more. Using it to kill Caesar and the other ape warriors in the city. Thinking on this, Winter quickly glanced on over to Juno and the other captives before turning back to look up at Red.

" _Why… Why are they all tied up?_ " Winter asked.

Red huffed, anticipating this question as he shouldered both of the guns to his back, before signing with his hands instead.

" _Ajax and the others betrayed us,_ " Red signed. " _Ajax joined with Jeanpierre and Andy with many of the warriors from the forest, as well as half of the Gorilla Guard._ "

" _I-I don't understand._ " Winter gestured back.

" _When Grey brought back the news of Caesar and the other apes' demise, they tried to take over instead,_ " Red explained. " _Ajax has run off and kidnapped the queen and young prince. He's hoping that by having the queen with him that the rest of the females with listen to him._ "

" _But Luca put Ajax in charge with the other warriors here. I don't understand why he would-_ "

"Luca. Is. Dead," Red spoke out, cutting Winter off, seeing the albino gorilla go still. "And if we don't move, we will be too. And soon. The humans will not wait long before they come after us."

Winter lowered his shoulders and felt dizzy, confused by how fast everything around him was changing. Since they had found the humans still existed it had been like slipping down a steep and muddy hill. Going faster and faster, unable to stop, only until they finally crash at the bottom of it. But what awaited for them at the bottom was a mystery in it of itself.

Blinking, Winter cast his green eyes to where the other apes were being guarded before turning back to look at Red who glared at him with those acid colored eyes of his.

" _Where… Where are we going?_ " Winter had asked after a long silence.

" _I'm not sure,_ " Red answered as he rubbed his chin, letting his gaze wander up towards the tree tops before they darted back down and landed onto Winter. " _But Grey is our leader now. Do you understand? He is our king._ "

At this, Winter swallowed once before he turned his gaze on over towards the brown haired chimpanzee who stood in the distance. His dark green eyes looking over the females before he eyed their captors.

" _I understand,_ " Winter answered with a single head nod.

Winter then reached out to retrieve his gun from Red but the rusted haired gorilla didn't move to give it to him.

" _I wish I could be sure about you, Winter,_ " Red signed at the white haired gorilla. " _But we do not know how many of the gorillas are with Ajax,_ " Red explained as he gestured towards the few who were tied down with the others. " _They fought us Winter. Urus fought us too. He fought a little too hard,_ " Red gestured darkly.

Noticing this, Winter froze for a moment.

" _Where… Where is Ursus?_ " Winter asked hesitantly.

" _We had no choice,_ " Red answered back simply before he frowned. " _We had to kill him._ "

Seeing this, Winter's breathing quickened and he quickly lowered his eyes to the ground as his head turned to and fro. What had happened? It was now all crashing down on him. Were they not suppose to break their sacred law? Ape Not Kill Ape? But… Even if Ursus had fought them then they could have stopped him. But to kill him? This was... This was all wrong. But then again, Red told him that Ursus was a traitor right? But still…

Hearing a grunt in front of him, Winter looked back up to meet Red's acid colored eyes.

" _Are you a traitor Winter?_ " Red asked slowly.

Winter blinked at Red, breathing heavily before he finally answered.

" _I-I am not a traitor,_ " Winter signed with shaky fingers.

" _I hope not,_ " Red gestured back. " _Prove yourself. Prove that we can trust you. Only then, you can have your gun back._ "

With that said, Red turned around and knuckle-walked away, making his way towards Grey. Winter slowly got up and stood there for a moment, letting all of what he had just learn, sink in. Closing his eyes, he let out a weary breath before he decided to follow Red back into the group.

Making his way towards the camp though, Winter looked around and caught sight of Juno and Jeanpierre, the older ape trying his best to keep the unconscious Andy from falling over from where they sat. Upon meeting Juno's eyes, Winter paused in his path. Juno's eyes quickly darted from left to right before he met Winter's gaze once more and quickly shook his head. At this Winter didn't understand and made his way on over towards Juno but was abruptly stopped by Rex.

" _I… I want to see how they are doing,_ " Winter explained.

"No," Rex simply grunted out. " _Go and guard the females,_ " the older gorilla grunt-gestured.

With that, Winter backed away slowly, not before casting one last glance at Juno and then finally leaving them.

…

The next morning the forest group of apes moved out immediately, with the sun rising up in east. As the group moved, Grey couldn't but reminisce about the trip he had with Koba and Stone many winters ago, before the elk and deer had become so plentiful near their home. Back then he and the other two had been searching for a better hunting territory and was also on the lookout for new lands to settle. Koba had always believed that the apes themselves needed to move further away from the giant cities and the stain of the human presence in the world. The three of them had travelled outward for days, and there discovered a forest that dwarfed their very own. The trees were a bit different - not as tall - and the land was more mountainous. However there were rivers and lakes in plenty, and many deer and elk roamed there in vast herds. All sorts of other game were plentiful as well, a good area to settle. Far away from the likes of the humans.

When they had returned to Caesar and the rest of the colony with the news, Caesar had considered moving the troop, but had many arguments against it; it was much to far, it wasn't near the sea and its many resources, it was by their report colder as well. Taking also into the fact that he humans were killing each other off, Caesar hadn't thought the long trek for the apes at the time worthwhile.

During this, Koba had managed to hide his disappointment in front of Caesar and most other apes, but not from Grey. He could see right through the bonobo, seeing the slight indications of the bonobo's hidden anger by the slight twitch in fingers and smallest shift of body language. Later that evening while he and Stone sat by their bonfire, Koba had angrily signed to the both of them. Informing them that Caesar couldn't bear to move away from the sight of the humans and their city; his tender feelings for them wouldn't allow him to do so.

Back then, Grey and Stone had partnered up with Koba for that trip to search for a better home. It was not easy to get to know Koba. The bonobos in general were the most social of the apes, sometimes a little too social to the point where it got annoying to Grey and many of the other great apes of the colony. Not Koba though, he mostly kept to himself. Often times he or Stone would find the scarred bonobo alone, touching at his scars and looking off into the distance, as if he were seeing something that they couldn't see. But he would never tell them, even when they eventually became honor brothers.

"Grey?"

Upon hearing his name, Grey looked towards his left and met Cedar's confused eyes. Coming back into the forest and corralling the females and the rest of the apes into one big group and detaining most of the the ape warriors of the forest as well as half of the Gorilla Guard. It had hurt Grey to see such heartbroken stares from both his mate and child.

When he brought out a crown of vines and leaves, setting it upon Cedar's head and another crown made of a variety of flowers, setting it upon Maples'. It was then that Red had declared that Grey and his family were the new leaders of the colony with many of the ape warriors that had defected hooting out in cheer while all of the females, including his own two love, looking on with terror and uncertainty.

" _Grey? What? Why are you doing this? Why is this happening? Why are you not speaking to me?_ " Cedar asked desperately.

Grey stopped and met Cedar's ivy colored eyes with his dark green ones and for a moment he almost frowned, wanting nothing to do but comfort her. However he hardened his face at her instead.

"It is better. This way," Grey answered, seeing the disappointed look from Cedar.

The brown haired male then felt a tug on his arm, causing him to look down and see Maple staring up at him with a angry frown upon her lips.

" _Why do this father. This is not right,_ " Maple signed angrily as tears streamed down the sides of her cheek.

" _It is for your protection. For both of you and your mother. You should both be happy. You both are queen and princess now,_ " Grey explained.

Maple angrily hooted once and took the crown of flowers from atop of her head that her father had made for her and threw it onto the ground, stomping on it with her feet. At this action the air fell silent between the whole group as all eyes were upon both father and daughter.

" _I don't want to be princess! I want apes to be together. Not… Not like this,_ " Maple signed angrily up at her father, gesturing to the other warriors and Gorilla Guard that were tied up.

At this, Grey however blinked at his child in surprise, never seeing such anger coming from her. He reached out for the younger female but Maple quickly took a step back, away from him.

Maple had instead glared intensely into her father's dark green eyes before she abruptly turned around and moved away, making her way on over to where Cedar stood. Grey watched as Cedar held onto their daughter for a moment before she turned back around to look at him. Grey lifted his hands and was about to sign to both Cedar and his daughter but thought better of it. Instead he held up a hand into the air and made eye contact with all of the apes around him.

"We move!" He bellowed. "To! A safer! Home!"

With that announcement from him, Grey nodded at Rex who nodded back at him before the gorilla and the rest of the defected warriors pushed the other apes along. As Grey watched the apes taking their leave and as soon as the group had wandered far enough ahead, Red had came up to him.

" _Have you and the others found Cornelia yet?_ " Grey asked, keeping his dark green eyes upon the moving camp before finally turning to look at Red.

"No," Red answered with a huff. " _She might be trying to go back to the human city, to tell Caesar. I have sent Olo and Sampson to try and cut her off._ "

" _What about Ajax?_ " Grey questioned this time. " _Have you found him?_ "

At this Red grunted.

" _No, we have not found him yet. But he was wounded during the struggle. Might even be dead at this point. I sent Flint, Shell and Thorn to track him,_ " Red huffed while he signed back towards Grey.

Upon seeing this, Grey turned back to look at the group of apes females, young and elders that were being moved, along with the ones that were bounded by rope. He quietly breathed through his nose before he slowly turned his head back around to look at Red.

" _It seems like things are not going as planned,_ " Grey gestured, noticing Red's hair bristling upon his shoulders from the corner of his eyes.

" _Cornelia surprised us. Did not expect her to move so fast. She was suppose to be weak and I thought because of that, she would be easily made into a captive. With her and her son as our hostages, we could have easily disarmed the apes that were loyal and assert our dominance,_ " Red grunted in frustration. " _But we had to change the plan. And it seems to be working,_ " he concluded.

At this, Grey eyed Red skeptically.

" _That is unless Cornelia herself returns. Or Ajax for that matter,_ " Grey countered.

"They. Won't," Red grunted out before catching himself and shrinking a bit, showing submission.

Grey's brows however furrowed and he turned fully to address the rust colored gorilla.

" _What did you? What have you done?_ " He demanded with his teeth slightly baring.

" _I anticipated your desire…_ " Red gestured back, his acid colored eyes glancing off to the side, avoiding Grey's.

"Desire? What desire?" Grey huffed.

" _Like you say, if Cornelia or Ajax returns, it could ruin everything that we have been working for, it could ruin everything. We have already lost Ursus in the struggle and if there were to be another fight among us, it could be disastrous for our numbers,_ " Red explained.

" _You have given the order that they should be killed?_ " Grey signed.

" _I thought that was what you would have wanted,_ " Red replied. " _It is unfortunate, but-_ "

"Ape!" Grey growled, cutting Red off. "Not kill ape," he finished the hairs on his hackles rising high and bristling in a menacing gesture.

Red cowered slightly but then paused and rose slightly up to meet Grey as well.

"That was Caesar and Koba's law," Red responded, " _Caesar himself broke it when he dropped Koba and Pope at the human tower._ "

"Pope. Broke. That law. First," Grey growled, his shoulder dropping, hearing the truth in Red's hand signs.

" _Maybe true. But does that matter now?_ " Red asked.

Grey breathed heavily through his nose as he eyed Red before slowly looking away.

" _No. I suppose not,_ " Grey signed with a frustrated grunt.

And the both of them were silent for a long while, only the sounds of the apes moving in the distance filling the air. Feeling that they needed to follow the others, Red made to move but was stopped by Grey who had reached out to take a firm hold on his shoulder. He turned slightly to look at the brown haired chimpanzee who was eyeing the group of apes.

"Know this," Grey spoke in a deep gruff voice.

"What is that?" Red asked.

Grey took a deep breath before closing his eyes and exhaling through his nostrils before opening his eyes finally and turning to look at Red.

" _If Caesar loses his battle with the humans. If he and the other warriors dies, the humans may follow us to where we are going. Or they may not, if we go far enough away from them,_ " Grey explained with Red nodding in confirmation.

Red was about to take his leave but was stopped once more by Grey again.

" _But if Caesar wins, and comes to find us. There will be only one end to that for us. And when he and the other warriors do find us, we ape traitors will spend the rest of our lives running,_ " Grey gestured with a stern look. " _And when he catches us - and he will eventually - then we will die for what we did. From here on out. There is no turning back for us._ "

Once Grey had finished in saying what he needed to say, he left Red there all alone, as he followed after the group. As Red stood there though, his breath quickened as he looked down at the forest floor. For once, what Grey had said to him, instilled a little bit of fear. And if he was right and if Caesar and the other warriors did survive their fight with the human soldiers. Then they will spend the rest of their lives running from Caesar.

As he mulled what Grey had just said to him within his head, Red suddenly balled up his fists, hard enough to the point where the whites of his knuckles shown. Red huffed and looked back up from where he stood, determination set within his acid colored eyes. Caesar will not hunt him down if he somehow survives his fight with the humans. If Caesar somehow miraculously did then Red himself will find a way to end Caesar's life, when it comes to that. With that set within his mind, he finally trudged on after Grey and the rest of the apes.

…

When Feliz did not return in the evening of the very next day for them, Blue Eyes wandered restlessly up and down the stream, thinking and wondering on what was taking the human girl so long. Alexander and Malcolm both fared not better as they waited too. The both of them had taken turns keeping a lookout but from the most of it, everything seemed placid for the most part. But as the first sets of twinkling stars began to dot the orange rusted sky Blue Eyes had let out a huff and started off in one direction.

"Blue? Blue Eyes!? Hey!" Alexander called after the scarred chimpanzee whose dark form was making his way up the hill.

Both Alexander and his father quickly followed after Blue Eyes and saw the chimpanzee descending the hillside and jumped into some of the underbrush. When Alexander and his father finally reached the young chimpanzee, the angry teen quickly reached out and grabbed at Blue Eyes' shoulder.

"What are you doing?!" Alex hissed quietly at Blue Eyes.

"Take too long," Blue Eyes growled back, shrugging off Alexander's hand.

"Blue Eyes, listen," Malcolm quickly cut in as he reached out and hovered his hands in between the two boys. "I understand that this is taking quite a long time but we gotta trust in Feliz alright? Trust, remember?"

At this Blue Eyes seemed to calmed down slightly before he lowered his gaze and turned to look at the two dome like buildings that held his friends, the hair around his neck bristling. He then felt a hand being gently placed upon his shoulder, causing him to look back at Malcolm, partially seeing the man's face in the dark.

"Trust," Blue Eyes repeated quietly.

"How about this, we go a little closer to see what is going on. If we don't hear anything about Feliz then we come back alright? Does that sound good to you?" Malcolm asked, signing some of the words to the young prince.

Blue Eyes thought about it for a split moment before he silently nodded his head at the man.

"Okay, just a quick look and we come right back," Malcolm said aloud.

With that, the three of them continued past the power plant that paralleled the coast in the direction that they had seen Feliz strutting off to. As they neared one of the ridge the all stopped when they heard a sharp, metallic sound.

"Hold it right there!" Someone shouted.

The voice was definitely human sounding to Blue Eyes, of course, but not one he nor Alexander and Malcolm knew. Blue Eyes stood tall, but like the other two did not move. To Blue Eyes' surprise the human slowly rose out what looked like a dead bush.

"No, no, no, no," Blue Eyes could hear Malcolm say softly as the human approached them with a gun held in the ready position.

"Y'all better answer," the man ordered.

"W-we're friendlies. Please don't shoot," Malcolm responded with his hands raised, Alexander mimicking his father.

Blue Eyes however thought the gesture odd but was quickly distracted when the man had pulled something out from the side of his waist. Suddenly bright light was shone into their faces.

"What are you guys doing out here here so late- Jesus!" the man gasped in surprise.

Blue Eyes took this moment to drop on all fours and charged towards the human, knowing that it was a futile attempt, that he would be shot long before he reached the man. The light swung wildly, trying to follow him as he hurled himself forward, expecting the sound of gunfire and the feel the bullet take his life.

But the gun never fired; Blue Eyes had misjudged his leap, thinking that the man was much further away than he was, and thus hit him so hard, it knocked the breath out of the both of them.

Blue Eyes was the first of the two to recover from the sudden impact. With quick thinking on his part, Blue Eyes reached down and wrenched the gun away from the man's hands and then bore him back to the ground. Blue Eyes raised his hands and brought them down, hitting the man as he would another ape.

"Blue Eyes! No!" Malcolm called out, causing Blue Eyes to suddenly stop his arms on his fourth swing.

Panting heavily, Blue Eyes turned to look at Malcolm as he came rushing over and knelt down besides the beaten man. Bringing his arms close towards his body, Blue Eyes took a step back from both of the men, fearing that he had killed the human accidentally. Alexander had quickly gone over to Blue Eyes' side and stood next to him.

"Is he dead?" Alexander asked.

"It's okay. He's… He's alive," Malcolm confirmed after a few heartbeats.

"Hey! What's going on down there!"

The three of them turned their heads to see where the voice had came from only to see two more silhouettes, one of them armed. Blue Eyes, Alexander and Malcolm all stood stock still, knowing that they had been found out and was now at the mercy of whoever was approaching them. Their only choice now was to run and hopefully not get shot.

"Blue Eyes?" One of the silhouettes said aloud, confusing the three. "Malcolm? Alex?"

"F-Feliz?" Alexander answered back hesitantly.

Suddenly the teen girl came into view her curious face looking down at all of them.

"What are you guys doing down here? Sounded like a fight happened," Filiz said aloud.

"Fight," Blue Eyes confirmed, turning his head so that he was looking at the unconscious human a couple of steps away from them, next to Malcolm.

"Oh, crap! I mean, oh man. Did you guys kill him?" Filiz exclaimed.

"No. But Blue Eyes sure did a number on him. Probably won't wake up anytime soon," Malcolm answered.

Malcolm then turned to look past Feliz, seeing an older gentleman who was bearded with a good deal of gray coloring his hairs, before he finally eyed the girl once more.

"Who is this Feliz?" Malcolm asked.

"Got someone who wants to meet ya. All of you guys actually," Feliz answered in a matter of factly tone as she slung her gun over her shoulders.

…

Later that evening while the forest apes traversed into the darkening woods. Maple begrudgingly glared up at her father as she walked among with the rest of the apes. Turning her jade colored eyes, she could see her mother taking to her queen role very well, looking almost as if she had wanted that position all her life and that didn't help matters much.

How could Caesar had fallen? When her father had came back with many of the other warriors it looked a little bit too strange to Maple and the others when the apes all saying that Caesar had fallen. There would have been no such thing and Maple didn't believe it. But to hear father say it too, had hurt her. She knew when he was not sincere with his words because his eyes usually gave himself away and when she looked into them, they did. How? How could her father abandon their king like that and suddenly assume the position of leader?

Sniffing quietly, Maple reached up and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, doing her best to dry her eyes from the oncoming tears. Suddenly feeling a gentle set of hands upon her, Maple turned to the side to see Tinker, her beloved's mother, smiling sadly at her.

" _He's lying,_ " Maple signed closed to her chest, just so that Tinker could see. " _He's lying about everything. Why?_ "

" _I do not know, but I know that we cannot stay here,_ " Tinker gestured back.

" _What are you going to do?_ " Maple asked hesitantly.

" _Cornelia is still out there, somewhere. I must go to her and help her,_ " Tinker answered.

" _But there is so many warriors and Gorilla Guards around us. How would you even get out of here?_ " Maple asked.

At this, Tinker paused as she walked silently with the rest of the female apes a frown upon her features. The young chimpanzee was right, even if she had wanted to leave, how would she do so without being noticed by the many ape guards and warriors keeping their eyes peeled on them.

There was a sudden sound, causing both Tinker and Maple to look up from their spot, seeing Oaka looking down at them from her spot on the horse. The heavily pregnant female looked around quickly before she turned back toward Tinker and Maple, beckoning them to come towards her. Both Maple and Tinker looked at one another momentarily before they both made their way on over to where Oaka and her mother were.

" _I saw you both,_ " Oaka signed, her hands very low so that the males around them couldn't see. " _Planning to escape?_ " she asked.

" _We must find Cornelia. She is needed here,_ " Tinker gestured back.

" _It's too dangerous. We don't even know where she might be,_ " Lala - Oaka's mother gestured worriedly.

" _She is our only chance in stopping my father and the rest of the apes,_ " Maple gestured back.

Oaka seemed to ponder on that thought for a moment, thinking long and hard before she looked back down and smiled at the three of them.

" _When I give signal, that is your chance to both get away. Understand?_ " Oaka signed with a knowing smile to her face, causing the other three females to look at each other.

Before the three females could ask what Oaka had meant by that the pregnant female suddenly doubled over and let out an ear piercing screech, alerting the forest group of apes. All eyes were suddenly on Oaka as she held onto her stomach and began weeping while Red, Grey and several of the other males came up to her.

"What is going on?" Red demanded.

"Stomach… Hurts. Baby," Oaka panted as she scrunched up her face, worrying the males.

As the males all turned their heads about, not knowing what to do, Maple and Tinker stared on as Oaka was holding her stomach. Then quickly the female signed the word " _go,_ " to the both of them and that was when they knew. Smiling in thanks to Oaka, Tinker nodded towards her before both she and Maple slowly eased themselves away from the sea of bodies and limbs as the pregnant female continued her ruse. As soon as they were out of the outer edge of the group, both Tinker and Maple quickly ascended into the trees and swung away quickly as every apes' attention was on Oaka.

They swung and swung as fast as their limbs would carry them within the darkening of the woods. Soon enough the two females stopped for a breath and looked behind them, noticing that they have not been followed.

" _Where are we going to find Cornelia?_ " Maple asked in quick panted huffs.

" _I know a place,_ " Tinker responded.

And with that said between the both of them, Tinker quickly led the way, towards the one spot that Cornelia would most likely go for, followed after by Maple.

...

Blue Eyes wrinkled his nose at the smell of the elder human that Feliz brought with her. He smelt bad, like rotten fruit. He walked a bit erratically, and had a little trouble with his words when he spoke. Alexander seemed to have thought the same thing when he moved a little bit away from the elder human as well.

"Ugh, he's drunk off his ass," Feliz commented before she suddenly straightened out. "Shit! I mean shoot! I meant he's drunk off his butt - uh, booty? Whatever it is! Anyways, I found him in a bar. He's been talking a whole lot in there you know. Which is what led me to him in the first place."

Feliz then eyed the unconscious man on the ground.

"We should uh… Should probably do something about him though," Feliz suggested as she nudged the unconscious man with her foot.

"Right. Alex help me," Malcolm agreed as he bent down and started to tear the man's clothing into strips.

Alexander helped his father and they both quickly bound and gagged the man with the torn clothing before they lifted him up and carried him a decent distance from the site.

"What did you guys do to him?" Feliz asked, once Malcolm and Alexander returned.

"Blue Eyes tackled him," Alexander responded.

"Oh, you knocked him out cold?" Feliz asked as she turned to address the sky-eyed chimp who nodded after a moment, once he understood her. "Ha! Good job," Feliz finished.

"Alright Feliz, who is this man and why did you bring him here?" Malcolm asked, turning to look at the older man now.

"Oh right. This is Armand," Feliz introduced.

"Well then, I'm Malcolm. This is my son Alexander and over there is Blue Eyes. We're friends of Feliz," Malcolm introduced all of them to the newcomer.

Armand smiled warmly at both Malcolm and Alexander but when he laid his gentle eyes upon Blue Eyes, the older man's face turned sorrowful. Then he raised his hands.

" _I'm sorry,_ " Armand signed to Blue Eyes, causing the chimp to widen his gaze.

Everyone watched Blue Eyes with curiosity, a look of pure shock overcoming the young ape's features before he slowly relaxed and he too raised his hands.

" _Sorry for what?_ " Blue Eyes asked in return, hoping that the elder human could see his hand signs the dark and with what little the light from the buildings provided.

" _T-they brought me in to translate for your friends,_ " Armand replied, signing and speaking at the same time so that everyone could hear him. " _Both of my parents were deaf, so I had to learn to speak with my hands growing up. I didn't know what was going to happen, I swear._ "

This didn't sound good at all to the small group as they watched Armand explaining to them.

" _What happened?_ " Blue Eyes continued. " _How are they?_ "

Armand paused and his eyes unfocused a little before he looked away for a moment and then turned back.

" _Which ones?_ " Armand asked.

" _Ash and Ray,_ " Blue Eyes breathed. " _Chimpanzee. Orangutan._ "

Armand sighed and slowly shook his head side to side.

" _They're both not doing too good,_ " Armand answered. " _They hurt the both of them. Hurt them a lot, and I was there, and I didn't-_ " he paused for a moment gather his breath before continuing. " _They wanted your friends to tell them secrets about your..._ " He paused yet momentarily again, as if thinking of what to sign and say next put merely shrugged his shoulders. "Your people," he finished.

Blue Eyes felt a cold chill running down his backside upon hearing this from the human elder.

" _How bad were they hurt?_ " Blue Eyes asked in quick sign.

" _I can't be sure. I'm not a doctor. But I don't think they did anything permanent though,_ " Armand responded, not meeting Blue Eyes' gaze. "Not yet, anyway," he finished softly.

"What did they do to them?" Malcolm suddenly asked, causing the older man to look his way.

"They… They threw them into the electric chair," Armand answered desperately.

Upon hearing this, Malcolm and the others faces lit up around Blue Eyes but then the chimp noticed Malcolm's eyes furrowing into that look of anger. A look that he hasn't seen on the man before.

"What are they going to do to them?" Alexander asked this time.

"If it's anything from what we've learned so far. Nothing good," Feliz answered as she crossed her arms, a deep frown set upon her lips.

"What. About. Fox?" Blue Eyes asked quietly, rounding back to face Armand.

"Him? He fought a little harder," Armand replied. "In doing so, they hurt him more. But he's still alive."

"Why tell us this?" Blue Eyes questioned Armand this time.

Blue Eyes watched as the human elder took something from his jacket, a bottle of clear liquid, and took a long drink from it. Once Armand was done, he had whispered something aloud to which Blue Eyes didn't quite catch. But he reeled back slightly as the human's breath smelled, more than ever, of foul decay.

Armand then wagged a finger between all of them.

"If you have men or women who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity," Armand started. "You will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man."

Armand then met Blue Eyes' gaze before he turned to look at Feliz, Alexander and finally Malcolm.

"No?" Armand asked.

"Is that from the bible or something?" Feliz asked, placing her hands upon her hips and leaning forward slightly.

"That's a quote from St. Francis if I can recall," Malcolm slowly, causing all heads to turn towards him. "I'm not much of a historian but I do tend to pick out some historical figures myself. St. Francis being one of them. A man who was full of compassion and love," he finished.

"Glad we have something in common," Armand spoke quietly.

The older man's eyelids drooped as if he was very tired, or looked like he was about to go to sleep. But then he sat back and his eyes seemed to blaze open, shining brightly from under the moon's light.

"Why am I telling you all this?" Armand snapped, turning to look at Blue Eyes who jumped back from him a little. "It's cause I'm drunk. And I'm mad. I didn't want to be dragged into all of this. Wanted nothing to do with it. Just leave the rest of my life peacefully you know. Or what's left of it…" Armand continued.

Everyone looked at each other uneasily but then Armand heaved out a sigh and tilted his head upwards.

"I came down from L.A. The things I saw there, the things people do to each other… We did this to ourselves, you all know that, right? They called it the Simian Flu, that is. And people are so stupid, so they thought that those poor apes had caused it, but knew deep down that they didn't. Men made that virus and they wanted something to blame, anything to make themselves feel better. This is our sin, not theirs. Ours."

With that finally said the older man had brought up his hands and covered his face with it, shoulders shaking. At this everyone didn't know what to do. Malcolm though walked on over and knelt down next to Arman and placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder.

"It's okay. This was in no way your fault," Malcolm reassured.

"You don't understand," Armand spoke through his sobs. "They hurt them. They hurt them so much. And I didn't do anything, except did what they told me to do. Just my job… Because I've got no goddamn soul, you know? And now I have to go with them, because no one up there knows how to sign, either, and watch it all happen again."

"Well that's a pile of stinking bull-crap!" Feliz's voice suddenly piped up, causing everyone to look at her. "You say that you don't have a soul? Yet here you are, weeping for others who were hurt and tortured. Doesn't that mean something? Right?"

"Empathy," Alexander spoke up this time. "Empathy for others."

Upon hearing this, Armand seemed to cry more but not out of sadness from what Blue Eyes could see. Something more, something that didn't look sad but more happy. A strange emotion to him.

"Thank you. All of you. For the kind words," the man whimpered.

"Armand, where are they taking them?" Malcolm asked this time, turning to face the older man. "Where are they taking Ash, Ray and Fox?"

"They're going back up towards San Fransisco I heard," Armand finally answered after recovering enough to do so. "Taking a boat they said. Tomorrow morning."

Hearing this, Malcolm turned to look at the other three who all turned heads among themselves.

"You are all planning to rescue them, aren't you?" Armand asked suddenly, causing everyone to look his way.

"Only rescue Ash and Ray," Blue Eyes corrected, gaining looks from his other human companions.

Upon hearing this, Armand scrunched up his forehead, stood up, walked on over towards Blue Eyes and leaned in very close to the youngest member of the group. Looking at the chimp's face, as if he were searching for something.

"I translated for all of them you know," Armand spoke and signed as he leaned back, away from Blue Eyes. "Fox, too. I know something about what went down between you guys. This civil war you are all having," Armand explained, noticing the hairs on Blue Eyes' body standing on end. "Look. I do not pretend to understand all of it. But when I was talking to your friend Ray, I noticed something. He talks about all of you apes as if you are one species. But you aren't. I know I don't look like much now, but there was a time where I know things. Chimpanzees and orangutans are very different from each other, are they no?. You all can't interbreed, right? Make children together. As a chimp yourself, you are much more different from an orangutan or a gorilla than I am from any human on Earth."

Blue Eyes tilted his head slightly to the side, trying to understand the human elder's different usage of hand-speak and regular speak but the old man continued.

"But humans are one species… And yet we still managed to carve each other into groups of pure hatred and mutual exclusion based on skin tone, whether our hair is frizzy or straight, what we eat, don't eat. And especially in what we believe in. We made slaves of one another and even fought terrible wars over that stuff because for us, even the fact that we're all the same species wasn't enough to create a sense of solidarity. Because something in our heads is better at dividing things up than putting them together. I used to believe we could change that - I really did." Armand said slowly in a sad voice before he met Blue Eyes' gaze once more.

"But for you, you and the rest of the apes. You've all had a different start. You're are all new. Still very young. You all don't have to go down the path that we humans did. And from what I can see, you all were doing okay only until a few months ago. Until you met us again. And I think you've all stumbled somewhere," Armand explained this time, dropping his hands, not noticing Malcolm looking away in shame at his words. "You've all discovered vengeance and retribution, and those are very easy things to like. To let it consume you. They call to your nature, just as they call to mine… Because we are cousin species," Armand explained, now noticing Blue Eyes perking up. "But that is the wrong road to go down on and I implore you to not do so. For your sakes."

Once Armand had finished. Blue Eyes stared back at the elder human for a long silent moment before a deep frown found itself upon his face.

" _What else is there?_ " Blue Eyes signed and spoke out with a growl. " _When someone has has tried to kill your friends, when someone tries to kill you, what else can you do?_ "

"Forgive them," Armand replied in a gentle voice.

At this Blue Eyes couldn't help himself as a grunt of disgust emerged from within him while he bared his fangs.

"I understand," Armand said slowly. "I know it is very hard to do this. A lot harder than what hatred offers you. But look, Fox is hurting. He once understood his world, but now he doesn't anymore. He needed some answers, and he took the first ones that someone had offered to him. And I believe that is what made him do what he did. But I can see, he loves your people, you apes, as much as anyone. You and him, you have that in common. And a lot more I bet."

"I don't want to understand! What Koba was feeling! When he tried to kill Ash!" Blue Eyes snapped angrily at Armand.

The air suddenly became silent as everyone stared at Blue Eyes now, who was huffing and puffing, his sky colored hues brimming with tears. Alexander and Malcolm turned to look at each other for a brief moment before finally turning their heads to both Armand and Blue Eyes.

"Who is Koba?" Armand asked curiously.

Upon realizing on what he had just said, Blue Eyes stared back at the human elder with big wide eyes before he quickly drew in on himself, wrapping his arms around him. What Armand had said, about forgiveness and how to be empathetic towards others. Blue Eyes understood what the human elder was saying, but it was just so hard to forgive. Especially when it comes down to what apes had did to hurt others. While imagining Fox being hurt and placed within the cage, he for some reason, had seen Koba instead and had twisted the two together within his mind. And even after all this time he thought he had felt sad for his uncle Koba. Now though, he knew what it exactly was. A deep seeded rage that had built up when he felt betrayed by the older scarred bonobo, spurring on his sadness and blaming and cursing Koba, Pope, Fox and the other apes who followed them for what they had done to disrupt their peaceful life.

"My dear boy. What ever is the matter?" Armand asked gently in a soothing voice.

Blue Eyes however had gone silent and slowly turned his head away from the human elder and everyone else, his nose slightly flaring. Alexander had then chose this moment to walk on over to where Blue Eyes stood and placed a hand upon his shoulder.

"A lot… A lot has happened," Alexander explained, turning to look at Armand. "They've been through much."

The air around them grew silent momentarily once more before Armand himself took in a deep breath and let out a sigh.

"Well… What we do - or don't do - are the only things that really matter now. And I'm so tired of not doing," Armand spoke up meeting all of their gazes, a fiery determination set within his own. "If you all are planning to help the apes. I can help too, do what I can. But we must act soon."

At this, Feliz made a face and leaned back away from Armand a little.

"You're drunk as sh-ah, stinking drunk," Feliz said aloud.

At this Armand couldn't help but let out a small hearty laugh.

"Sister, I can't think of a better condition to be in right now," Armand answered back.

"Where are the apes now Armand? Do you know where they took them?" Malcolm asked.

"Last time I saw them. They took them away… Most likely thrown them back into those wretched holding cells again," Armand answered turning his head slowly towards one of the domed shape buildings.

…

When he finally came to, Ash slowly opened his eyes and tensed up his body momentarily at the tremendous amount of pain that radiated all over him. Breathing in quick breaths, Ash noticed that he was laying on his side and was about to lift up his head when he felt a gentle hand being placed upon his shoulder. Looking up, Ash's eyes widened when he saw a human's face and with a whimper, he tried to move away from her, but his body wouldn't listen to him.

"Sh sh sh, it's okay. It's okay now. They're not going to hurt you," a soft voice caused Ash to settle down, if only slightly.

Looking up at the human, Ash squinted his eyes at her, at least he thinks he knows it was female as his vision was still blurry. But as soon as it focused, a familiar face came into view and Ash blinked slowly, recognizing it as the woman who had gave him the blanket.

"What did they do to you?" Linda said quietly as she stroked down the frizzled hair on Ash's arm.

It didn't go unnoticed to Linda as she noticed the chimp would tense up everytime she had touched him, or by the fact that he whimpered slightly everytime she moved her arm, anticipating as if she were going to hurt him in some sort of way. Seeing this coming from the chimp, hurt Linda's heart dearly but she simply smiled at the wounded chimp with her mouth closed, remembered reading that showing teeth was a sign of aggression towards chimps, so very long ago.

And the two stayed like that, Ash laying down on the cot while Linda merely sat there and kept him company.

It wasn't long until another person slowly entered the room, causing Linda to look up and away.

"How is the one you were taking care of?" Linda asked quietly.

"He's fine. I guess. Would growl at me though. I think he would have attacked me, given if he weren't so wounded already," the other man responded as he leaned his back onto the counter.

"How about that one?" the man asked, tilting his head to the chimp on the cot.

"Still in a lot of pain…" Linda responded slowly, turning to look down at Ash.

"Is that why he's not in a cage?" the man asked, earning a scowl from the woman.

"They don't belong in there and you know that!" Linda said sternly.

"Okay, okay. I get it. But remember. These guys are still apes. Probably not fully grown yet, which is most likely why they're not in cages for now," the man warned. "Well except that bigger one."

What did they do to them Lou?" Linda asked instead.

"I don't know," Lou answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "They wouldn't tell me. Just told me to fix'em up and get them ready."

Ash tiredly watched as the man stretched his arms into the air, letting out a long yawn.

"Is that why you're here?" Linda asked with a frown, not turning to look back at the man.

"Would you prefer someone else?" Lou asked.

"No…" Linda responded slowly. "Where are they taking them Lou?"

"Like I said, I don't know," Lou responded.

As the man named Lou spoke, Ash moved his head and could see the human taking something from the counter and sticking one of those sharp things into the other, drawing some liquid into it. Once he was done the man walked on over and Ash couldn't help himself as he started to make whimpering noises.

"It's okay. It is okay," Linda shushed Ash as she reached out and gently held onto him.

"Should we tie him up?" Lou asked hesitantly.

"No!.. No. Just make it quick and painless as possible," Linda said softly.

"I promise I will not hurt him. Just a pinprick," Lou responded.

If Ash did have the strength though, he would have done his best to scramble away at the strange man walking towards him with that sleepy pin in his hands. However Linda's voice of comfort, kept him there, causing him to look up and meet her dark brown eyes. Then to his surprise the human spoke aloud to him in some other tongue that he had not heard of before, keeping his attention. Before he knew it, Ash felt a slight irritation on his arm then his eyes started to droop slightly and he tried his best to keep them open. However the last thing he saw was Linda's smiling face, as she reached out and gently touch his head. With that last notion his world faded away and was once again taken to the world of dreams.

* * *

 **Characters introduced in this Chapter...**

 **Apes**

Sampson - Ape grunt.

Olo - Ape grunt.

 **Ape OCs**

Lala - Oaka's mother (not her official name but we weren't given one. Please correct me if I am wrong)

 **Human OC's**

Lou - Linda's friend that works with her. (Named for Lou Wagner from the original Planet of the apes movies. And he played Lucious, Lisa's teenage nephew from the films.)


	34. Chapter 34

When the fog laid thick among the treetops, Cornelia soon rose from her hiding spot, as soon as she could see. When she had moved, Cornelius had protested with a few small chirps, so she soothed him by hooting back softly.

" _The fog is our friend my son,_ " Cornelia signed to her youngest child, even though she knew that he didn't understand her yet.

But Cornelius liked to watch her hands move, and every now and then he would mimic her. Smiling at Cornelius, Cornelia brought her snout close to his face and rubbed his cheek with it, causing her little baby to coo in delight. After a bit Cornlia had lifted her head up and looked at her surroundings. Indeed, the fog had always been a friend to the apes. It had been their ally when Caesar had first led them across the bridge to safety and hidden them when the flying machines had came to kill them.

And now, it concealed Cornelia and her little one from the other apes that were chasing them.

Cornelia now found herself in territory she knew very well and needed no landmarks to navigate herself. Before the village had been built, so many winters ago, there was just the land and the forest itself. Even after the humans had ceased coming for them, life was very close to the bone; foraging had occupied much of her time, even after Blue Eyes began to grow inside of her belly.

By mid-morning, she had finally found it; along a creek on the moss-covered south side of a canyon wall, protected by ferns and tangle of bushes. A place where an older, larger stream had eaten away at the stone and left a rock shelter behind. It was high enough at its tallest point to stand in and did not go very deeply into the canyon wall, but there was plenty of dry space inside.

Cautiously, Cornelia approached it; it had been many winters since she's been here, and it could be possible that wild and ferocious animals had made this space their home. Upon hearing a sound, Cornelia froze and stood still, hearing faint and familiar noises coming from within. Creeping a little closer, Cornelia pushed aside the vegetation and was met with both Tinker and Maple huddled within it.

"Cornelia!" Tinker gasped, quickly rushing on over and embracing her good friend. " _Oh Cornelia, I had hoped you would com here,_ " Tinker signed happily as she pulled back before smiling even wider and reaching out to hold her honorary nephew's hands. " _I'm so glad to see you both safe,_ " she finished.

When Ash and Blue Eyes had been born, the village had only just begun to grow. He and many others before him were not born within it, like Cornelius had been. Instead they were born here, in a place that only the females of their tribe knew of. It was also here where the midwives had first made their veils and taught the rituals of birth to each other. Why they had chosen to keep it a secret from the males had never been discussed among them.

After the village was build, it was much safer to give birth there, and in the ethos of the village, where all of the apes worked together. The females felt pressure to bring their new ways within the walls that enclose them all. And so they had.

But they had never forgotten this place, where so many of their sons and daughters had first drawn breath. And as far as Cornelia knew, it was still a secret to the men of their tribe. And she was glad for this, as it was now keeping her, her child, Tinker and Maple safe.

At the thought of Maple, Cornelia had quickly turned her head upon the young female and eyed her from where she stood. A concerned look overcame Tinker's features and she was about to speak up but Cornelia was already moving and was now standing in front of Maple, how had nervously looked down at the ground, not meeting the queen's eyes.

"Explain," Cornelia said simply.

Tinker reached out and took a hold of Cornelia's arm but her friend did not even turn to look at her, except she had kept her eyes upon the younger female.

Maple met Tinker's eyes momentarily before turning herself up to meet Cornelias'.

" _M-my father has taken over the troop,_ " Maple signed nervously. " _He and the rest of the warriors told us that Caesar died. And that the warriors and guards were all fighting each other,_ " Maple's hands were starting to shake now. " _It was terrible. Saw my father speaking with Red. They… They killed Ursus,_ " Maple signed, tears now falling from her eyes. " _They tied up apes who did not follow. I'm sorry._ "

Unable to sign more, Maple buried her face within her hands and wept into them. After a brief moment, she felt an arm embracing her, holding her tightly.

"Thank you," Cornelia's voice said soothingly, causing Maple to look up and meet her with wide jade colored eyes.

Cornelia smiled warmly at the brown haired female before she turned to look at Tinker whom huffed at her before going over towards Maple's side and hugged her.

" _She is just a child, she doesn't know anything,_ " Tinker chastised Cornelia as Maple buried her head into her shoulder.

" _Had to make sure. Enemies are everywhere now,_ " Cornelia explained. " _Young are easily manipulated,_ " she finished earning another frown from Tinker.

Keeping her eyes upon Cornelia a moment longer, Tinker finally sighed and looked down to the weeping Maple within her arms. She then gently placed her cheek upon the younger female's head and had let out soft coos in order to soothe her, gently stroking her back like she would often times do for Ash when he was upset.

Eventually the other two females were well enough to seperate and the three of them sat themselves upon the soft earth beneath them.

" _I saw you leaving with Red the other day, in the afternoon. I knew they were lying. And Ajax-I don't know where he is after the fight with Red and Grey's apes. Andy is wounded, along is tied with Jeanpierre and the others. When coming here I saw a trail of blood. Someone tried to cover it up, but I found it,_ " Tinker explained.

" _Then we are in more trouble than I thought,_ " Cornelia replied as Cornelis started to clamber on over to play with Maple.

Soon enough, Tinker had provided some dried meat and fruit for them to eat. While they ate, the three females had tried to work out on what was going on and what they needed to do.

" _I think they meant to capture you,_ " Tinker looked to Cornelia. " _I think they meant to force you to tell us to cooperate with them._ "

" _That would make sense. Then the Gorilla Guard and out warriors would have surrendered without a fight,_ " Cornelia agreed.

"Most of them didn't even get to fight," Maple jumped in as she held Cornelius within her lap. " _Father, Red and the others had disarmed most of the warriors and guards while they were sleeping._ "

Tinker nodded at the young female before turning to look at Cornelia.

" _That was when Jeanpierre, Andy, Ajax and Ursus fought - when they killed Urus and wounded Andy,_ " Tinker explained sadly.

Upon hearing this, Cornelia absorbed all of this information silently before turning to look at both Tinker and Maple once more.

" _Could it be true then? Is Caesar really dead?_ " She asked hesitantly.

"We had thought Caesar was dead once when he was not," Tinker started. "And many of the apes who came with Grey were followers of Pope and a few of Kobas; not one of Caesar's commanders is said to have survived. Except for Andy, Jeanpierre and Ajax now. Most of the females don't believe what Red and Greys says, or at least they doubt it. But they go along with Grey, for fear of their children's safety," Tinker finished, looking at Cornelia with trepidation.

" _My father is lying, I know,_ " Maple signed, gaining the attention of the two older females.

" _How?_ " Tinker asked.

" _I don't know. But I just know that he is not telling me the truth. Or at least he is hiding something and doesn't want me to know,_ " Maple explained before turning to look at Cornelia. " _Mother is declared queen now,_ " she finished.

Upon hearing this, Cornelia nodded at the younger female. She knew Cedar well; she liked to be the center of attention, and usually thought she was being slighted, that she was never quite treated as well as she should be.

But as problems went, Cedar was not an important one, right now.

" _We must find a way to tell Caesar,_ " Maple said.

" _No,_ " Cornelia signed. " _They will be watching for ust to do that. The way back to the city is much too narrow, too easy to watch. No, right now we must find Ajax and free Andy, Jeanpierre and the others._ "

" _What about the troop?_ " Tinker asked now. " _Grey is moving them north._ "

" _Do not worry about them,_ " Cornelia signed to her good friend. " _They will be easy to follow. We don't even need a tracker to follow a group that size. We must find Ajax, for we will need his strength. And importantly we must stay alive, escape and stop those who are hunting us._ "

" _Maybe they have given up?_ " Maple asked after a long silence.

" _No, I do not think so,_ " Tinker turned to the younger female. " _They can't and will not allow Cornelia to go free. Or any of us for that matter. Someone with be hunting us, always._ "

" _How long have you both been here?_ " Cornelia asked as she settled Cornelius into her lap.

" _We arrived only shortly before you did,_ " Tinker answered.

" _If you are right, then they will find this place soon. Maybe very soon,_ " Cornelia signed slowly. " _We will need to go find Ajax. He most certainly will try to reach Caesar._ "

With that decided between all of them, the three females had then chosen that moment to leave before they were discovered.

Cornelia and the other two had made out of the cave and was just a stone's throw away from it when she had cautioned them all to halt. Turning her head upwards, she could now hear something moving through the trees. Thinking quickly, Cornelia signaled for the other two females to follow her and they all huddled on the south side of an immense redwood, waiting. As Cornelia, Tinker and Maple waited in anticipation they all held their breaths when an orangutan and a chimp came into view just a bit over them. Cornelia herself didn't have a good enough view to see who they were but they were moving slowly down the gorge, searching as their heads moved slowly back and forth, like predators.

After a moment the two apes had moved on and the three females had let out a unified breath of relief. However, Cornelius started to try and play again, making small squeaking noises, causing Cornelia to hold her son close to her. Terrified that his little cries of joy will give away their hiding spot. There was a small gasp, and Cornelia looked up from her son to Tinker who was gazing off into the distance. Following to where Tinker was looking at, Cornelia's heart pounded within her chest when she noticed the arm of a chimp, slowly coming around a redwood trunk that was three trees away from them.

The blood from Cornelia's face drained as Pongo came into view, his lip was still raw and his right ear, all but gone. She saw him touch his face and scowl as he looked about. Thankfully he hand't seen them yet, as he was looking the wrong direction. But if he were to just turn his head halfway and looked down…

There was a sudden short call of an orangutan, that caused Pongo to look in the direction of the cave, where Cornelia and the others had been just moments earlier. There was a low rumbling growl that was coming from the giant male above them and then Pongo suddenly leaped from his perch, crossing the distance between him and the next tree.

The three females stayed there in silence for a long while, until they were sure that the three apes were gone before Cornelia gave the signal for them to all move again, quickly.

...

When Ray had woken up, it was to unfamiliar motion' it somewhat resembles riding a horse, but the rhythm was much slower. The strange motion made him sick as if he were on the verge of vomiting, and realized by the mess not too far from him, he had already done so. Whimpering, Ray pulled himself up, trying to figure out where he was and what was happening. All he could remember clearly was the tremendous amounts of pain he underwent as he tried to answer Armand's questions, questions that the elder human was forced to ask by the other ones.

Sighing to himself, Ray looked around himself and noticed that he was no longer in the glass cage, but in another one, made of wire. Looking about, Ray noticed that he was in a gray-green colored room lit by several glowing tubes that hung in the very low ceiling. As the world rocked again, Ray couldn't help himself as he groaned at the motion.

"Yeah, me too," a human voice said aloud.

Slowly dragging his head up, Ray saw the translator, Armand, talking to him.

"The sea may be pretty but I'm not very fond of being on it honestly," Armand confided.

"Where?" Ray groaned in a hoarse voice, wanting to know where he was.

"We're on a boat," Armand turned to sign at him.

Curious, Ray met the elder human's eyes and noticed a worried look over them.

" _Don't speak with your mouth okay? Just sign,_ " Armand gestured.

Armand warily looked up at Armand but saw the sincerity within his eyes.

" _Okay,_ " Ray signed back finally.

Looking towards his right, Ray noticed then that Fox was in a cage right next to him, albeit the older chimpanzee was crouched on the far side of it, glaring up at the both of them. At this, Ray shot a look back at Fox.

Armand seemed to have taken notice of the two apes' hostilities towards one another.

" _No, play nice, you two,_ " Armand signed to the both of them.

" _Go away. Human, go away,_ " Fox signed back at Armand.

Ray was just about to sign something when he heard whimpering behind him, causing him to turn around. To his surprise, Ray saw another form, a familiar one, laying curled up in a ball.

Ash.

Upon seeing the other chimpanzee, Ray quickly walked on over and stuck his arms through the wiry bars and touched Ash's backside. As he placed a comforting hand upon the other ape though, Ray pulled his arm back slightly when Ash whimpered and tensed up before drawing him on himself more.

"Ash?" Ray breathed in confusion.

When Ash didn't answer him, Ray took a closer look at the older ape and noticed that the chimp had still not budged from where he lay. The elder human merely placed a finger in front of his lips for the sign " _quiet,_ " and then made the sign for " _sleep._ "

" _He's had it pretty rough,_ " Armand explained, walking over towards Ash's cage and reaching in as well, rubbing a hand atop of the chimpanzee's head. " _He's still sleeping and hurt from what happened,_ " Armand explained.

" _Because humans did this to us!_ " Fox growled while signing from within his cage.

" _Yes,_ " Armand agreed. " _Because humans hurt you all and I'm very sorry,_ " he apologized. " _But please trust me. I am trying to help the three of you this time._ "

" _No trust. Lies!_ " Fox gestured back, baring his fangs.

At this, Armand sighed and wiped a sleeve across his sweaty forehead.

" _Look, both of you. I wouldn't trust me either, if I were an ape. But you two need to listen to me. What they did to the both of you, the pain, the questions. It's going to happen again. Unless you two let me help you,_ " Armand pleaded.

Fox made an angry noise and retreated further to the back of his cage while Ray eyed Armand.

"If you two don't trust me. Then at least trust me now, for you friend's sake," Armand gestured slowly, reaching through the wiry bars and rubbing the top of Ash's head once more, earning a huff from the unconscious chimp.

Ray watched how Armand was looking down at Ash tenderly before meeting the elder human's eyes once more.

" _Go on,_ " Ray gestured back.

" _I met your friends,_ " Armand started, earning confused looks from both Fox and Ray. " _Blue Eyes, Alexander, Malcolm and Feliz._ "

Upon seeing this, Ray's face lit up and he now stood attentively. The humans of their group were not officially given hand-sign names but for the time being Ash, Ray and Blue Eyes had thought up of some for Malcolm and Alex. Since Malcolm was like that of an architect, whatever that meant to the humans, they associated it with the hand letter " _M_ " and sign for " _build._ " For Alexander it was the letter " _A_ " and the hand sign for " _art or draw._ " These signs were only taught between the small group and only them. So since Armand showed these names to him, Ray knew exactly that the human elder was telling the truth.

"And Feliz," Armand finished in a soft voice, noticing Ray's eyes brighten up slightly. " _We have a plan to get you all out of here. But I can't have you two fighting each other. Do you understand me?_ " Armand asked.

It was at that moment that Ray noticed that Armand didn't mentioned another member of their group.

" _Rocket?_ " Ray asked, making the " _R_ " symbol and tapping it over his heart.

At the name, Armand shook his head slowly. " _Your friends told me that Rocket had gone back to inform your leader about something._ "

Nodding understandably, Ray lowered himself and turned to looked down at Ash before making eye contact with Fox who still glared at them.

" _Can you get us out of the cages?_ " Ray asked this time.

Armand hesitantly looked about himself.

" _I don't have the key yet. Sorry,_ " Armand apologized. " _But when it all goes down though, I will. We just have to wait._ " he finished.

" _Still don't trust you,_ " Fox signed from his end of the cage, a frown set upon his features.

" _I know and I'm sorry. For what they did to you. At the time, I thought there was nothing I could do for you. Both of you. If I had refused to translate,_ " Armand paused momentarily. " _I'm not sure what they would have done to you three. And I know they wouldn't stop until they got what they wanted. Or wanted to hear what they wanted to. Anyways. I'm here now and this way at least, I'll be by your sides. With all of you. Able to make amends for what I couldn't do before._ "

It was at this moment everyone within the holding area turned their heads when someone new entered the room. To Ray and Fox's surprise, they watched as a woman with dark raven colored hair that was tied up behind her head, accompanied dark brown eyes, walked on over towards them. She was dressed in clothing that was the colors of an afternoon sky, all clear and light.

"Excuse me. Are you lost ma'am?" Armand asked.

"Oh n-no, I'm actually here to… To help that one," the woman said softly as she eyed Ash's form within his cage.

The others followed the woman's gaze before slowly turning back to look at her.

"I'm actually here to make sure he's not. Well… To make sure he is better," the woman finished.

"Did you help him?" Armand asked softly, gaining a slow not from the woman. "I'm Armand. The translator for these apes," Armand spoke up with a smile.

"Linda," the woman answered with a small smile of her own.

…

"Ta-da!" Feliz announced as she presented the vehicle later that evening to the others.

Blue Eyes, Alexander and Malcolm looked at the jeep wrangler and then back to the girl who was all smiles.

"How did you get a car?" Malcolm asked curiously as he inspected it.

"Oh, I have my ways," Feliz responded as she crossed one arm over her torso and held her chin with the other, eyes looking up at the sky.

"I think Armand gave you this right?" Alex asked.

"What!?" No!" Feliz shot back with a flustered face.

Malcolm and Alexander merely stared at the girl for a long while, with Blue Eyes curiously looking back and forth between all of them, before Feliz heaved out a deep breath.

"Fine! Armand gave me the keys," Feliz responded, face going red.

"Well alright then!" Malcolm spoke aloud as he looked into the vehicle before leaning back out. "Keys?"

"Oh no. Armand gave this baby to me and it is my responsibility to take care of it," Feliz responded.

"Something tells me you just want to drive it," Alexander jested the girl, who made a face at him. "Do you even know how to drive?"

"Do I- How dare you! I'll let you know that I am the best driver from the town of Esperanza," Feliz announced.

At this, Alexander couldn't help but roll his eyes at Feliz and turned to look at his father who shrugged in return.

"Well… I guess we get in then," Malcolm said aloud. "Come on. The boat left hours ago, if we don't move soon, we'll fall behind," he finished, jumping into the passenger seat.

"Got that right old man!" Feliz said excitedly as she jumped into the driver's seat.

"Old man?" Malcolm questioned, turning to look at Feliz, who seemed to be ignoring him and was putting the key into the ignition.

"Come on Blue Eyes," Alexander said to the chimpanzee as he climbed into the back seat.

Blue Eyes however stared at the strange thing and looked reluctant in getting in such a thing. He had seen these before, in the human city and had seen many of the humans using it as a means of transportation. Blue Eyes however had never been in one and didn't know what to think or do about it.

"Something wrong Blue Eyes?" Alexander asked from spot.

"This. Not for. Ape-"

Before Blue Eyes could even finish what he was saying he felt, rather than saw, something came rushing towards him. He tried to pivot away from whatever it was that now loomed in his peripheral vision, but it was much too late. The blow landed on his shoulder, sending shocks of pain down his neck and back, hurling him across the vehicle past Feliz's, Alexander's and Malcolm's surprise faces. He hit the ground roughly, but had managed to roll and regain his footing.

The car screeched in protest as Aghoo had leapt up on it, bending the hood beneath his massive weight. Feliz had yelped and scrambled out of her still-open door, along with Malcolm and Alex, as the hug gorilla raised up in a raw display of anger.

Panting, Blue Eyes looked up to Aghoo, seeming to be more massive that he had remembered. This was definitely not good. If Aghoo were to have a hold of him, he would definitely break Blue Eyes in half.

" _Where is Fox?_ " Aghoo demanded, bunching up his shoulders and scowling in a obvious threat.

Involuntarily, Blue Eyes felt himself shrinking back, but stopped himself. With a shuddering breath, he forced himself to stand up straighter to the other ape.

" _He is a captive of the humans,_ " Blue Eyes responded, " _In a cage._ "

At this, Aghoo bared his canines but Blue Eyes pointed to Alexander and the others.

" _We are going to save him,_ " Blue Eyes gestured.

" _You, are working with them? The humans?_ " Aghoo growled, turning his head and baring his fangs at Feliz and the others, who backed away from him.

It was at this moment that Blue Eyes realized that Feliz's and Alexander's gun was still in the car, but the gorilla didn't know this. Aghoo however, had his slung his weapon onto his back, and although he made no move to use it, Blue Eyes noticed Stripe standing just a stone's throw away from them, holding his at the ready, a big grin on his face. That just left Bon, but he didn't see the older chimp anywhere at all. Maybe hiding?

" _Yes, humans help,_ " Blue Eyes answered. " _We have to hurry. We do not have much time._ "

At this Aghoo snorted at him.

"Son. Of Caesar," Aghoo spat in Blue Eyes' direction. "Son. Of nothing."

As Aghoo said all of this, he took his gun and tossed it in Stripe's direction, the chimpanzee catching it with one arm before he aimed it at the three other humans.

" _Caesar. Your father. Killed my king. And I, Aghoo. Will kill Caesar's son,_ " Aghoo grunted whilst signing. " _Blue Eyes will never be king. As long as I live._ "

" _Listen to me!_ " Blue Eyes growled back angrily. " _There is a boat - another boat. Ash, Fox and Ray are on it - they are going to be hurt, badly, and then they will die. There is also a weapon on the ship, a weapon the humans will use to kill all of the apes within the city and forest if we do not stop it!_ "

Aghoo paused for a moment, looking as if he was thinking on what Blue Eyes had just told him, but not for long. He suddenly hooted in contempt at the sky eyed chimp, seeming confused by his sudden laughter.

" _Only the warriors should be left in the city by now. The ones that are loyal to your father. Females and children should be back in the forest. With our apes. Apes who believe in strong ones like Pope and Koba. It is good if Caesar and his warriors dies. It will make it that much easier for us to rule,_ " Aghoo signed back, much to Blue Eyes' horror.

There was a single hoot that erupted from Stripe causing Malcolm to jump back and away from the vehicle as the chimpanzee glared at him.

"See. You. Shoot. You." Stripe warned, aiming one of the gun barrels in the man's direction.

Aghoo grunted, then jumped down from the car and raised up on his hind legs, barking once in Blue Eyes' direction.

" _Will the son of Caesar fight? Or die like helpless prey?_ " Aghoo mocked.

At this, Blue Eyes couldn't help himself as he too rose up to his full height and bellowed a challenging roar at Aghoo. Staring down the bigger gorilla, Blue Eyes' gaze darted quickly to his companions momentarily, knowing well that they would not be able to fight back if Aghoo and Stripe were to attack them. Making a quick decision, he feint charged towards Aghoo before rounding himself and sprinted away on all fours, hoping that the gorilla would give chase on him instead. This tactic seemed to have worked as Aghoo roared in fury at him retreating and quickly chased after him up the hill.

As Blue Eyes ran, he quickly glanced behind him, seeing the bigger gorilla angrily charging after him. All Blue Eyes could do was run as fast as his limbs would carry him, trying his best to stay out of Aghoo's reach. He knew that he should be able to outrun the bigger ape; Blue Eyes' only fear was that Stripe would shoot at him and even if he would miss, the sound would sure alert the human soldiers from the compound to their location. But as Blue Eyes ran he quickly glanced in Stripe's direction, seeing the other ape following him with the barrel end of his gun but didn't shoot, a frown etched upon his features. It seems like both Aghoo and Stripe were not as stupid as he had previously thought. They too, knew the dangers if a gun were to go off in such close proximity to the human's town. They did not want a hundred humans swarming around them any more than Blue Eyes did. Aside from that, it clearly wanted to personally beat him into a pulp. That was if he could catch him. Aghoo was probably twice his weight, and what little of that weight wasn't muscle was bone.

"Blue Eyes!" Someone called out.

Along with his name being called out, Blue Eyes turned his head quickly to see Stripe hefting the two guns to his back and getting down on all fours, before giving chase as well. Even with the two guns on his back, Stripe was extremely fast, quickly gaining upon on Blue Eyes' left flank with Aghoo falling behind on his right. However if Blue Eyes were to veer towards his left, he would fall right along the gorilla's path. Both Aghoo and Stripe were herding him like game, pinning him to where they want him, but if he could only make it to the top of the ridge of that hill. Then maybe he might be able to break from the pin down and double back to the others down at the car. With that in mind, Blue Eyes sprinted faster, and after a few dozen yards, he did gain more distance from the two, but then his limbs started to tire out. Glancing back, Blue Eyes had hoped that maybe the others would tire out as well, but Aghoo - unbelievably- seemed to be picking up speed, and Stripe was easily gaining distance on him.

He was not going to make it.

It was at this moment Blue Eyes had to make a choice. If he had to go through one of them, it would have to be Stripe, and it better to do it sooner than later, when he was exhausted. With that thought in mind, Blue Eyes kicked up the dirt underneath him as he veered towards Stripe's direction. The white streaked chimp hooted, half-expecting Blue Eyes to come to such a decision; he dropped his weapons and charged head on to meet the prince.

At the very last moment, before they both collided with one another, Blue Eyes leapt into the air, putting one hand on Stripe's head as he vaulted over the other chimp. Blue Eyes' heart soared as he almost seemed to take wing, like a bird that soared high above the ground, free, and in that single moment, gone…

Stripe's fingers had reached up and closed themselves around Blue Eyes' ankles. Blue Eyes' flight ended with his face meeting the hard earth underneath him, his face radiating in pain upon the impact, tasting his own blood within his mouth. With a grunt, Blue Eyes then looked back at Stripe, who had fallen with him and kicked the other chimpanzee off of him. Rolling back up quickly, Blue Eyes held the side of his face as his head rang loudly. Hearing a quick series of grunts, Blue Eyes turned and saw Stripe quickly getting back up, charging at him once more.

Seeing Stripe running at him with his mouth opened, teeth all bared in a threat display, Blue Eyes' vision suddenly became red. All that sorrow, frustration, anger and hatred suddenly bubbled forth from within him, causing his heart to pound wildly within his chest. With a howling screech of his own, Blue Eyes balled up his fists together and swung it with all of his might, clubbing Stripe in the side of the mouth. The hit was so solid and impact so forceful, Blue Eyes was quite surprised to even feel the bones within his arms and chest shaking from the blow.

When his balled up fists had made impact with the other chimp, Stripe had screeched out in pain and fell aside. Seeing the other chimp falling down and then getting back up, staggering away; this would have been the perfect time for Blue Eyes to make a retreat. However, he was done running away, tired of being the one in hiding and or chased.

With anger and fury still set within his chest, Blue Eyes bolted after Stripe. As he neared the still recovering chimp, Blue Eyes pulled back his right arm, balled up his fist and struck Stripe in his left ear, earning a pained yelp from the other chimpanzee. The moment Stripe went down again, Blue Eyes was quick to attack the defenseless chimp. He screeched and growled as he kicked Strip in the chest, struck him in the face again and even tried to snap his fangs around the struggling chimp's throat.

Before Blue Eyes could do anymore, something like the wave of an ocean suddenly took a hold of him and he was suddenly flying again, his stomach having a strange tingling sensation as his weight went away. Before, he once again, met the hard, dry dirt of the hill as he crashed into it, rolling upon its hard surface. Catching his breath, Blue Eyes slowly pulled himself onto his arms and slowly lifted his head up to see Aghoo looming over him.

"Coward," Aghoo grunted.

Growling, Aghoo then reared himself upwards, bringing up his arms all the while. With a defeated breath, Blue Eyes waited for the gorilla to bring his arms down, to crush his skull upon the ground. But then, the gorilla in front of him stumbled forward, out of control. Blinking once, Blue Eyes couldn't see why Aghoo had jolted forward like that; but then he realized that another ape had leapt upon the gorilla's back. As Aghoo landed on his knuckles he jerked around in a semicircle, as the chimp that had attacked him hung on.

Upon closer inspection of his savior, Blue Eyes' eyes widened.

"Rocket!" Blue Eyes called out.

Rocket however could not respond at the moment as he held onto the raging Aghoo who twisted and turned, trying to buck the bulky grey chimp off of him. Reaching one huge hand behind him Aghoo tried to grab at the chimpanzee once more but Rocket had slung himself over the gorilla's head to somersault downslope. Landing with a grunt, Rocket glared up at Aghoo as Blue Eyes quickly backed up to join him, the both of them came together and watched for Aghoo's next charge.

Aghoo however glared at the both of them and quickly looked around, seeing both his and Stripe's guns on the ground a few feet away from him. Aghoo had then lurched towards both Blue Eyes and Rocket, but instead of attacking them like they thought he would. He instead rushed towards one of the guns and picked it up.

"Run!" Rocket barked at Blue Eyes.

Before Blue Eyes could even say anything to Rocket, the older chimpanzee was already charging towards the gorilla.

Baring his ivory fangs, Aghoo raised his gun and aimed it at Rocket, but then he suddenly straightened up, eyes wide, enough to see the whites of his huge green eyes at the setting sun's light. He then dropped the gun in his hands and clapped his hands around his throat.

There was a faint report that sounded from below the hill.

For a second longer, Aghoo collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud, no further sound coming from him. Stripe, who was now recovering and regaining his feet, now saw Aghoo's still body, lying on the ground. With a gasp, Stripe felled backwards, crawling away and screeching in terror, turning around and ran as fast as he could over the hill, away from the shore.

Both panting, Blue Eyes and Rocket stared down at Aghoo's now still form and could now make out the the dark puddle that was forming around the gorilla's head. At this, Blue Eyes reached out and took Rocket's hand, causing the older chimp to slightly turn his head to look at him, a somber look in his green eyes, squeezing back.

"Come," Blue Eyes said quietly, trying his best to not look at Aghoo. "We must go. Hurry."

Turning around the two chimps quickly descended down the hill and met up with the others. Reaching the bottom, Blue Eyes could see that Feliz had already started the car with both Malcolm and Alex already getting in.

"Come on!" Feliz called out. "Somebody was bound to have heard that!"

"Rocket!" Both Malcolm and Alexander greeted the other chimpanzee as both he and Blue Eyes jumped into the vehicle.

"I'm assuming he's friendly?" Feliz asked, perplexed.

"Friend. Uncle," Blue Eyes pointed out.

He then slowly turned his head to look up the slope of the hill, seeing Aghoo's body lay in a heap, unmoving. And that sight alone sent a chill down his backside.

"So dark out now," Blue Eyes breathed, turning his head slowly to look at Feliz. "You shot?"

"Yeah…" Feliz answered in a hesitant voice, sounding sad. "I'm not that great of a good shot as you would think. I just make it sound like I do… I just. I wasn't trying to kill him you know. Just hurt him. He was hurting you and then… I-I don't know I panicked," she voiced in almost a whisper. "I screwed up big time."

"Hey, it's okay," Alexander spoke up as he reached over and placed a comforting hand upon the girl's shoulder from the backseat area. "You did what you had to."

"Yes. Thank you," Blue Eyes responded to the girl.

They all turned their heads when they heard shouts of alarm coming from the direction of the village.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Feliz announced as she shifted into gear.

Then with a sudden lurch, both Blue Eyes and Rocket hooted slightly in alarm as the vehicle seemed to have leaped forward, so quickly that Blue Eyes nearly fell out the back portion of it. Luckily there was a bar for him to grab onto and if it weren't there, then he would have been sure to have fallen, as did Rocket. Within near moments, they were all flying down the road, swerving madly from side to side along the path.

"You sure you know how to drive this thing!?" Malcolm spoke loudly from his side in the passenger seat.

"Well… I've seen it done plenty of times!" Feliz spoke up, yanking on the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to jerk and the apes behind her to hoot. "Whoops! I think I'm getting the hang of it," she said happily.

Malcolm however was not amused as he eyed the girl in the driver's seat. However the windshield in front of them suddenly cracked. Upon noticing this, Malcolm quickly looked back and now the reports of gunfire could be heard in the distance.

"Jeez," Feliz grunted as she ducked her head low to look under the clearer part of the glass. "Talk about shooting without asking questions…"

"Yeah, tell us about it!" Alexander answered the girl as the engine roared louder as Feliz pressed doown on the gas pedal harder.

Both Blue Eyes and Rocket held on for dear life as they all went around a curve so fast, the two apes feared that the entire vehicle would turn over, but they didn't. Soon enough, the sounds of gunfire died behind all of them and the only sounds that accompanied the group was the roar of the engine and the sounds of the rushing winds, blowing past them.

"It's good to see you safe Rocket," Malcolm turned around in his seat to address the bulky chimpanzee, who grunt nodded in return.

"Happy to have you back," Alexander said as well. "We were worried. I'm glad to see you safe."

"Safe," Rocket responded as he tapped his own chest and reached out to place two knuckles upon Alexander's chest area as well. "Happy. That friends. Safe," he finished with a smile.

Rocket then felt a tap to his shoulder, causing him to turn and meet Blue Eyes, who smiled up at him. The two embraced each other for a moment before pulling back from each other.

" _Did you go back to the troop?_ " Blue Eyes signed.

" _No, I didn't get far before I ran into Aghoo, Bon and Stripe. I managed to get away from Aghoo and Stripe by going down southward but Bon followed me,_ " Rocket answered.

" _Is he?_ " Blue Eyes asked hesitantly, meeting Rocket's stern green gaze.

"Alive," Rocket breathed with a frown etched upon his lips, remembering his violent confrontation with the other chimpanzee.

Both Alex and Malcolm however merely watched the two chimpanzees as they signed to one another.

" _Are you hurt?_ " Blue Eyes asked, looking his uncle over and noticing several bruises upon the older chimp.

" _No, but Bon won't be waking up very soon,_ " Rocket signed confidently with a grin to his face.

At this Blue Eyes couldn't help but smile in return as well but then a frown suddenly overcame his features.

" _You shouldn't have come back. Should have gone to warn my father instead,_ " Blue Eyes signed suddenly.

At this, Rocket waved a hand in between them while making a grunting noise.

" _If I had, you all might have been dead,_ " Rocket answered back.

Upon seeing what Rocket had just told him, Blue Eyes gazed off down to the side. He didn't want to admit it but Rocket might have been right. If he hadn't shown up when he did, he might not still be here and who knows what Aghoo and Stripe would have done to Alexander and the others. Rocket, seeming to know Blue Eyes' shame, casually reached out and patted him on the shoulder, causing him to look up. Rocket nodded once at the young prince before he raised his head up so the wind was blowing in his face as the vehicle continued on its course.

"Hey!" Feliz suddenly said aloud, causing everyone to look at her. "Aren't any of ya going to introduce me or what?" she demanded.

"Oh apologies," Malcolm suddenly spoke up as Blue Eyes and Rocket looked on in confusion, not sure what the girl had meant. "This is-"

Before Malcolm could even finish, Feliz had taken it upon herself to turn her head away from the road and look at Rocket.

"The name's Feliz," the girl greeted with a big grin to her face.

Seeming to understand a little better at what the girl had meant, Rocket nodded once at her.

"Rocket," the grey colored chimpanzee answered.

"The road Feliz! The road!" Malcolm panicked.

"Yeah, yeah. Geez," Feliz said casually as she turned her sights back onto the paved ground before her to appease the older man. "Rocket huh? The guys told me about you when we were traveling together. You're a bit bigger than I thought," Feliz continued.

"Where. Going?" Rocket asked.

"Right. Where to start," Malcolm spoke up this time.

And as the car sped along the road, kicking up clouds of dust and dirt, Blue Eyes, Alexander and Malcolm had filled the bigger chimpanzee on what was going on. From what had happened to the past several days to what they learned on what was going on with the people that took Ash, Ray and Fox. They have also informed Rocket on their new companion who was helping them as well.

" _He said that there was a weapon on the ship,_ " Blue Eyes signed.

" _What weapon?_ " Rocket inquired. " _Some new gun?_ "

"No," Blue Eyes breathed and tried to think of the sign for this new weapon but couldn't. "Gas," he finally said after a moment.

"What is. Gas?" Rocket asked, face scrunching up in confusion.

"Don't know," Blue Eyes responded.

"I do," Feliz suddenly spoke up, causing the two chimpanzees to look at the back of her head with both Malcolm and Alexander as well.

As they looked at the girl, her face was oddly emotionless.

"There are different kinds of gas. Some of it makes you puke up your lungs. Literally. There's another kind that sort of gives you the shakes, and you don't stop until you're dead," Feliz explained.

"There's also ones that causes your skin to burn too and various other things," Alexander voiced in as well with Feliz nodding in agreement.

"Jack told me that nobody is supposed to use it, but they used it anyways…"

"The higher ups from Diablo?" Malcolm questioned, earning a slow nod from Feliz.

"They… They used it over in the east, and down south. I mean… The people that they used it on were bad people. Really bad people. And there were too many of them to fight them in any other way. So, the Diablo folks used the gas. Problem is though, gas doesn't always go where it's supposed to go. It's just like the air, you know? Except it kills you," Feliz explained.

It was at this moment everyone noticed tears falling from the girl's eyes. As Blue Eyes watched something he remembered quickly sprung up from the back of his mind.

"Your mother? Die from gas?" Blue Eyes asked quietly.

"Yeah," Feliz answered, her voice slightly cracking. "She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time you know? When the wind changed.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Malcolm said slowly, reaching up and placing a comforting hand upon the girl's shoulder.

"Thank you," Feliz said slowly as she too placed a hand over Malcolm's. "But it's okay. She's in a better place now."

"What mean?" Blue Eyes asked, tilting his head at her. "A better place?"

"Oh, you know. Someplace like heaven, with the angels and all that? Pearly gates, streets of gold? You've never heard of that?" Feliz asked.

"Don't understand," Blue Eyes responded as he tilted his head again, causing Feliz to smile at him.

"Well, maybe in ape heaven its roads are paved with bananas," Feliz said, earning more confused looks from both Blue Eyes and Rocket. "Anyways, I don't know about all that pearly and gold gate stuff. All I know is, if I could see my mom again-that would be the only heaven I cared about."

"I understand," Alexander spoke up this time. "I lost my mom too. A-a long time ago though. Dad and I… It was rough," he drew on then smiled. "But it got better. Dad and I, we found Ellie. Or rather Ellie found us and it's all been good."

"Oh? So where is Ellie then?" Feliz asked, not noticing Blue Eyes perk up at her question about Ellie. "She's not dead is she?"

"No! No… She's not dead," Malcolm answered with a chuckle. "But she's safe… At least, I hope she's safe."

It was at this moment Blue Eyes reached out and tapped both Malcolm and Alexander both on the shoulder, causing them to turn and face him.

"Where Ellie?" Blue Eyes questioned this time.

At this, both Alex and his father looked at each other, seeming unsure of what to say but Blue Eyes was not going to ignore this any longer. They had been traveling for many moons now and he had not questioned the two out of respect nor did they mention the human female that usually accompanied them. Something was off and it was about time he got some answers from the both of them.

"How come she is not with you?" Blue Eyes asked once more, in almost a demanding tone.

"She's uh…" Alexander slowly responded, not sure of how or what to say. "Dad should we tell him?" Alexander asked.

"Tell?" Blue Eyes asked curiously, turning to look at his uncle who too had gone quiet as well, a grim look upon his face.

Malcolm seemed hesitant as he met Alexanders and then Blue Eyes' gaze. He then slowly turned to look at Rocket, whom was still silent through all of this.

"Rocket?" Malcolm asked.

Becoming quite flustered at what was all the secrecy was about, Blue Eyes immediately turned to face Rocket and meet the older chimpanzee in the eyes.

"Rocket. What is going on?" Blue Eyes asked.

The older chimpanzee took in a deep breath as he met Blue Eyes gaze before turning slowly to look at Malcolm and Alexander once more.

"We need to tell him Rocket. He needs to know," Malcolm said in a quiet voice with Rocket nodding back slowly.

"What is up with all the secrecy?! Just say it already, jeez!" Feliz called out from the driver's seat and causing everyone except Blue Eyes to flinch.

It had gone quiet again, with nothing but the sounds of the engine running and winds blowing past them.

"Koba. Alive," Rocket finally spoke out, causing Blue Eyes to snap his head towards the older chimpanzee, the whites of the young prince's eyes showing.

"Koba?..."

"That is where Ellie is," Alexander spoke up this time, causing Blue Eyes to turn slowly and look at him. "She's helping him recover."

The only sounds were, yet again, just the noise of the running engine and the rushing of the winds that passed between all of them.

"Well there you go baby blue! Question answered!" Feliz suddenly said aloud after a long pause. "Now. Whose this Koba fellow? This is like the second time I've heard his name," the girl continued.

" _I do not like her,_ " Rocket signed with a frown to his face, earning a hesitant smile from Alexander.


	35. Chapter 35

**Apologies for the long break! I did not abandoned this story. Was just busy, that's all. Hopefully I'll be able to do weekly posts again, but I can't make any promises. Anyways I'm going to address some of the comments to the folks who don't have private messaging on. I tend to answer almost every comment, so I hope you all don't mind me putting it on here.**

 **Lizzy2018 - Thank you so much for your kind comments in regards to my fic. I just wanted to let you know that I've appreciated all the comments you have left for my story and am very thankful for them and just wanted to let you know. ;)**

 **Travis - I'm glad you are enjoying my story as well! I do see where how both Feliz and Blue Eyes can be shipped together. But unfortunately those two are just going to stay as good friends. Plus this whole fandom has already got a lot of HumansxApe shippers out there, so I don't think I need to add more to the fold. This will strictly be ApexApe and HumanxHuman kind of story. Maybe in the future, ya? :D**

 **And I apologize for all of the other commentators for previous chapter, as I have not responded to you all. I just wanted to let you know that I very much appreciate you all taking the time to write something down. And from here on out, I will do my best to add my replies in the newest chapters in regards to the ones who don't have Private Messaging. Anyways, enough banter from me. I hope you all enjoy chapter 35! Happy Readings!**

* * *

Winter lowered the pack he was carrying to the ground, feeling quite exhausted. Luckily Grey had set a slower pace through the unforgiving terrain after Maple and Tinker's disappearance. Winter was thankful of Grey as the pack he had been carrying was easily twice as heavy as any he had ever shouldered before. With most of the horses gone or being used by some of the more pregnant females, Ursus dead, Ajax gone, and Oak out hunting for him, there were fewer gorillas than ever to do the heavy work.

Winter was still unsure of where he stood among Grey's new troop. He had not been hobbled like the other captive apes-the one Red had noted that were untrustworthy-and his own pack wasn't as massive as those that those captive gorillas were carrying. Even the warriors who had fought back were made to carry such things that were fit for a gorilla and Winter could see how a few of them were struggling with the weight. This was not right. For some reason as he watched the warrior apes struggling with their baggage, Winter could clearly picture Glade being among them, burdened with the heavy pack as well. Turning away, Winter could see both Red and Rex, the two gorillas who were not carrying anything at all, except the guns that hung around their shoulders. And Red's gaze had never left him out of his sights, while Rex's was locked onto the rest of the troop, keeping them all in line.

Winter watched as both Red and Rex seemed to be hand speaking with one another before the maroon haired gorilla left his spot, most likely to go meet up with Grey and Sampson. Rex had then let out a bark for them to stop and rest for now. With a sigh, Winter placed his pack onto the ground and he looked about, wondering if there was anything he could help out with.

He honestly wanted to rest but he needed to show Red and the others that he could be trusted. While the remainder of the guards had set up the perimeter, Winter was about to take his leave in search for firewood. While making his way out, his eyes took notice of a few of the captive gorillas who frowned and glared back at him, along with the tired looking warriors of their clan. His eyes caught the defiant glare of Andy, causing him to slow down to a stop in his tracks.

" _They are using you Winter,_ " Andy grunted, signing with his lips slightly pulling back.

" _N-no they are not. You are the traitors. Red told me. He said you all tried to take over,_ " Winter signed back.

Winter swallowed when he saw Andy leaning back and opened his mouth in pant laughter, but his eyes held such a fury within them that Winter couldn't help but shrink back a little.

" _And you believe him?_ " Andy gestured back with his teeth bared. " _If that is what you really believe, then you are hopeless._ "

Winter flinched at the chimpanzee's words but then noticed Percy, one of the elders, reaching out to place a gentle hand upon the fuming chimp's shoulder. Andy shot the older orangutan a look, whom was shaking his head slowly from side to side. With an angry huff, Andy then quickly sat down but kept his piercing green eyes upon Winter. Percy had then turned his attention back towards the white haired gorilla and smiled sadly at him.

While looking about, Winter's eyes then caught Juno's, who was staring back at him. A look of hurt etched upon his features.

" _Winter… Do you really think we are traitors?_ " Juno asked, a frown to his lips.

At this, Winter huffed as he looked away from the chimpanzee.

" _Yes. No. I don't know,_ " Winter signed confusingly, grunting all the while.

There was a sudden bark from behind, causing Winter to flinch. Turning around, Winter was met with a frowning Rex, as the older gorilla lumbered on over and glared down at him before eyeing Juno and the others.

" _What are you doing with the traitors?_ " Rex asked, turning his angry gaze back upon Winter.

" _N-nothing. I was just going to go get firewood,_ " Winter explained quickly.

"Then go," Rex gruffed into Winter's face, causing the albino gorilla to shrink back a little.

Turning to walk away, Winter cast one last glance over his shoulder, seeing the disappointment within the eyes of the other apes.

" _Be careful Winter. Be safe,_ " Percy had signed.

For some reason, their looks that they were giving him, had hurt quite a lot. Not physically of course, but something deeper, inside. A feeling he couldn't quite explain. What was he to do now?

…

Ray had been wary at first when he had seen the new human female as she entered their little room. He was afraid of course, thinking that she would spoil everything that Armand was working alongside them with. But then the human female surprised him when she spoke softly to Armand for a few moments before she silently walked on over to where Ash laid and reached through the wiry bars to touch at his head.

"Do not worry. I will keep your friend here safe. My name is Linda," the human female had greeted.

Ray had been hesitant at first, unsure if he should even trust the human female or not but the look that Armand gave him, was all the answer that he needed. He had then eyed the human female, named Linda and lightly tapped his chest.

"Ray," he had greeted, pointing to himself. "Fox," Ray introduced Fox, turning halfway to look at the caged chimp behind him. "Ash," he finished slowly pointing to where Ash was still sleeping.

"Hello Ray, Fox, Ash," Linda had greeted with a warm smile before she met their eyes again. "I am so sorry for you, all of you."

That had been a while ago before Armand and Linda had eventually left them alone within this eerie holding place, the two humans promising to return soon. Eventually Ray had thought he felt a change within the boat, feeling as if it was slowing down now. Hearing a grunt, Ray turned to look at Fox whom had stood up from his wiry prison and looked about as well, he too feeling the boat coming to a slow drift.

"Fox," Ray breathed, grabbing the older chimp's attention.

Fox took in a ragged breath before slowly turning his piercing green orbs in Ray's direction.

" _We should not be enemies, Fox. Not when the troop is at risk. Is in danger,_ " Ray gestured.

This had caused Fox's brows to lower, his head turning slightly to the side.

" _I am tired of cages. Sick of being human captive,_ " Fox growled while signing back.

" _Yes,_ " Ray agreed. " _And now we have a chance to escape. But we have to work together. Must work together,_ " he emphasized.

" _And you trust the humans?_ " Fox huffed.

"Yes," Ray answered simply. " _But even if I didn't-what other hope do we have?_ "

At this, Fox didn't answer but he merely narrowed his eyes at Ray with a deeper frown set upon his lips.

" _You had asked me if I understood, now. Pope, Koba, the elders, our parents, all of it. I do not know it all. You and I, we have only been in cages for a few days. Our parents were put into one. Koba, was born in one. I think I understand why Koba hated humans so much now. Why Pope used that to control him. Because he knew. But I also understand why Caesar cares for them, and you must have seen it too,_ " Ray gestured towards Ash, the older chimpanzee looking down at the other chimpanzee.

They both had remembered how gentle Linda was when she had reached into Ash's cage and stroked his head, much like a mother would. She had even resorted to humming a small tune while she gave Ash some strange things, telling them all that whatever she was doing to him, will help him.

" _But what I understand most of all,_ " Ray continued, gaining Fox's attention again. " _Is that apes must never be in cages again. We must be free, all of us. Caesar led us to freedom once-he can do it again._ "

Fox huffed out as he turned his head away momentarily before slowly coming back around to look at Ray in the eyes.

" _You do not know,_ " Fox signed back. " _You do not know everything that was planned._ "

" _Well, I know you and the others were planning on killing me-and Blue Eyes, Ash, Rocket and Caesar, I guess._ " Ray gestured slowly.

At this Foxed huffed out in amusement.

" _Not Caesar,_ " Fox corrected Ray. " _We did not plan to kill Caesar. We were going to let humans do that._ "

At this Ray lowered his eyes, a frown upon his lips.

" _Why Fox?_ " Ray had asked.

" _You know why,_ " Fox answered.

They were both silent for a moment before Ray looked up and met Fox's eyes.

" _After you had killed us, you and other apes were going to steal females and run off into the forest, is that it?_ " Ray questioned, startling Fox a bit.

" _Did someone tell you?_ " Fox asked, gaining a snort from Ray.

" _No. But it is obvious. And it is a stupid plan. Females will not listen. They will fight you. But more than that-do you really think after they have killed Caesar and his army. Did you not stop to think that the human soldiers will not come after you? They want to kill us all, Fox._ " Ray gestured.

Fox turned his gaze away, looking a little ashamed at Ray's words.

" _We were going to hide from the humans,_ " Fox gestured after a brief quiet. " _We followed you not just to kill you, but to look for possible hiding places too. More forests. Safer forests._ "

" _And were you able to find any?_ " Ray questioned.

"No," Fox breathed out after another long moment.

"No…" Ray repeated after Fox, casting his gaze down at the ground before meeting the older chimp's once more. " _Whoever you are listening to. Whoever is planning this. This is not going to work Fox. what brilliant plan would cost the lives of most of our warriors? Get them slaughtered? Who would be in charge then? After we have lost so much? Grey?_ " Ray asked.

Upon seeing Grey's name signed, Fox's eyes widened and he backed away a little from his cage. His backside hitting the wires behind him.

" _How do you know this? Someone did tell you didn't they?_ " Fox asked bewilderedly.

At this Ray slowly shook his head from side to side, keeping his eyes upon the older ape.

" _Fox. This will not work. Please, I am asking you. We must work together. We have to get free-and we must help Caesar. Our king. Our Alpha. Help him win against the humans._ " Ray pleaded.

Fox closed his eyes tightly and hissed silently to himself as he turned his head away from the younger orangutan. Ray however, hoped that what he was saying was getting through to Fox and that maybe. Just Maybe. Fox would reconsider his ways.

"How?" Fox finally breathed out, slowly opening his eyes and turned to look at Ray. " _Even if I agree to this. How?_ "

Just as Ray was about to answer there was a soft groan that came from behind him, causing him to turn around. With unblinking eyes, Ray watched as Ash slowly stirred from his sleep, raising his head to tiredly look around himself before standing up on shaky legs. Ray hooted happily, walking on over to his end of the wired cage and peering at his friend.

"Ash?" Ray spoke softly, gaining the white flecked chimp's attention. " _Are you okay? How do you feel?_ " Ray asked.

Ash stared at Ray for a long while before he heaved out a tired breath.

" _Sick, in stomach. Not feel too good. Still hurt, all over. But not as bad as before,_ " explained as he rubbed his arms slowly before eyeing Ray once more, staring at the orangutan confusingly. " _What happened to your head? Hair gone?_ " Ash pointed out.

This caused Ray to pant-hoot out in amusement as he reached out and touched at his bald spot, showing it to Ash.

" _Humans cut hair. They cut yours too, and Fox,_ " Ray nodded towards Ash who reached upwards and touched at his head until he felt the exposed skin, no longer sore.

As the two were enjoying speaking with one another again, a quiet gruff caught both Ash and Ray's attention, causing them to look at the oldest ape who made the noise - Fox.

" _Enough. We need to-_ "

Before Fox could finish what he had said they all jolted when they felt their surrounding slowing down before bumping into something.

" _What was that? Where are we?_ " Ash asked Ray, hooting worriedly.

" _We are in a boat, being taken back-_ "

Suddenly the door to the room opened up and in came a furtive-looking Armand. The moment Ash saw the human, he quickly backed himself to the end of his cage, frightened whimpers emerging from him as the elder human approached their cages.

"Oh, no no no. It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you," Armand quickly spoke and signed at the same time.

" _Bad human. Bad human,_ " Ash signed quickly with his lips pulled back, pant-screeching. " _Saw human. When hurting me._ "

" _I'm so sorry son. That was not me. I promise. I'm here to help you. See?_ " Armand explained as he pushed something into the lock of Ray's cage.

The instant the door opened, Ray bounced right out of it, feeling suddenly stronger than he had thought possible. Oh, how many days had he been in one cage or another? He stretched all of his limbs, enjoying the luxury of complet motion before turning back around and seeing that Armand had opened up both Ash and Fox's cages. Walking on over towards Ash, Ray hooted softly and stretched out his hand towards the chimpanzee.

" _He is friend,_ " Ray explained to the frightened Ash.

Ash was very hesitant as his eyes darted from Ray's comforting ones to the human elder. Ray seemed to be very comfortable with this human elder and the human didn't seem threatening. But he couldn't shake that image of him being hurt while that human had asked him questions over and over again to which he couldn't provide no matter what he did.

After a few more seconds though, Ash took in a deep breath and slowly emerged from his cage, joining in with Ray and Fox whom were waiting for him.

"There, there. I am sorry. I promise. I will not hurt you." Armand said slowly. "Ash was it? I am Armand. I'm here to help you. All of you." he continued, only earning a frown from the white flecked chimpanzee.

It was going to be extremely difficult to earn the trust of this one, Armand thought to himself. Then again it did not help that he was turned into interrogator but the others and made to be the face that this chimpanzee saw.

" _Friend?_ " Ash asked, turning to look at Ray.

" _Human friend,_ " Ray answered.

Ray then noticed that Ash was looking pass him and he slowly turned around to see Fox looking all of them, silent.

" _Fox?_ " Ray asked.

" _We will finish this here-escape together. Then we will go our own way. You will tell Blue Eyes that. Both of you,_ " Fox gestured.

Ray held Fox's gaze for a moment before huffing out and nodding.

" _I cannot speak for Blue Eyes, but I will tell him about our agreement,_ " Ray informed, before turning around to look at a very confused Ash. " _I will tell you about it later,_ " he told Ash.

"Alright," Armand said aloud as he stepped up to the three apes, Ash taking a step back as he neared. " _Now I need you three to pay attention. We are on a ship. Called the_ Naglfar," Armand voiced the name. " _parked on the side of a big ole rock out there. If everything went as planned, your friends would have gotten here early; they should be up on top of the rock, above us. Besides me and Linda, there is only six other men on board. And listen, this is important-I don't want them killed, not if there is any other way. Your friends are going to distract them, and we'll come at them from behind. But no killing. Please. I don't want any deaths._ "

" _No killing. Do not want to kill,_ " Ray responded to the elder human, whereas Fox was silent and Ash merely whimpered.

"That's the spirit, very good," Armand beamed at Ray before meeting the other two chimpanzee's eyes.

"We go. Now?" Fox grunted.

"No, we wait," Armand responded.

"No, I don't think we will," a voice said loudly behind Armand, causing everyone's blood to freeze over.

Peering past Armand's shoulder, Ray could make out the familiar face of Abigail Messenger, standing at the doorway.

Fox had let out a growling hoot and leapt up towards the human female, but there was a soldier there with her and he hit Fox with something, a long black club that made a weird popping noise and left a faint smell of scorched hair and-something else-in the had caused Fox to yelp and collapsed onto the deck, whimpering as he drew in on himself.

Upon seeing this Ash had too whimpered at what he just saw and backed away while Armand had immediately put himself in front of the younger apes.

Another figure suddenly came rushing forward and knelt down right beside Fox's form.

"What do you think you are doing?!" Linda said to the soldier.

"What is going on?" Armand had asked.

"You didn't think we would check in on you two, would you?" Messenger asked. "I had my doubts about the both of you. But you two were all we could take and all we had. Still are, for now, although there will be a trail for the both of you when we return. If you do your parts from now on, it might not go that badly for the both of you," Messenger spat, not noticing Ash flinch at the name.

Armand looked down at Fox and the two apes behind him before finally meeting Messengers dark orbs.

"What you are doing. What you are planning. It's genocide," Armand said slowly.

"Genocide?" Messenger repeated the word, her brows arching up in amusement before lowering themselves once more. "Genocide can only be waged against a human ethnic group. That's the definition. These things around you? They are not human."

"They are intelligent," Armand said aloud. They have souls."

"Souls?" Messenger said amusingly. "That's a rather bold statement, for someone with your background."

"It is an inevitable statement for someone with my background," Armand retorted.

"Every living being has a soul," Linda spoke up this time, her dark brown eyes aimed right at Messenger's own. "What gives you the right to choose what lives or what dies."

"Because I am human," Abigail answered confidently. "Now, you both can believe in whatever mumbo-jumbo you so please. Whatever makes you feel good about yourselves and allows you to sleep at night. It honestly makes no difference to me or this mission. And for the record, I'm not 'planning' genocide or anything else-I'm following orders, delivering a cargo to an ally. What he does with said cargo is his business."

"You are trying to talk your way around this," Armand said. "You can't. This is not right, and you definitely know it."

At this Messenger narrowed her eyes at Armand and then met Linda's.

"You two do not seem to understand anything. What's not right is fighting for ten years to reestablish civilization and then see it slip from our fingers," Messenger said. "I don't have time for this. Evans. Varga."

The soldier who had hit Fox had suddenly stepped forward and struck Armand, too. Ray dove towards the soldier, reaching for his arm, but the man was quick, stepping back and bringing the strange stick down on Ray. He felt the same sort of jolt he had when they had been asking him questions; everything behind his eyes turned white, and he smelled his own pelt burning as he fell to the floor convulsing.

Within the fog of pain, Ray could distinctly hear various voices all around him. He heard another yelping noise behind him and then the body hit the ground as well. He could hear what he thought was Linda's voice echoing around him as more men entered the room. They had put loops around his, Fox's and Ash's necks and pulled them tight. The loops were on the ends of rigid poles, putting the humans out of arm's reach.

"If you want to know how we found out about your little escape. We had decided that we could spare one of our cameras in here," Messenger told both Armand and Linda, the older man gasping as he dragged himself up the wall while Linda angrily starred back. "I don't know any sign language, but from your hushed whispers, it was obvious you all were planning something. Now, who is outside waiting for you all?"

"No one," Armand said aloud, placing a hand over one of his arms, to which Linda quickly ran over and checked him.

"And I'm willing to bet that's not true," Messenger said. "But we'll find out. We're going to walk these three out the front. They may not shoot if these things are there. Even though I doubt very much that any collaborators of yours get this far; local security has been put on high alert. Anyone who doesn't belong here will be detained or eliminated before they reach the dock."

"And this is how you would establish human civilization? The use and expense of another species?" Linda asked.

"Human civilization has always been built upon and by the expense of others. Be that human or another species. This has been happening since the dawn of time. What we are doing is establishing and saving the human race. Whether you see that or not, is up to you," with that Messenger turned around and walked away.

…

Huffing and puffing, Winter had brought back several bundles of branches for a fire. Once he was satisfied with what he had in stow, he had gone back out into the woods to look for lighter knot, which will make it easier for the fire to get going. Digging into a half rotten log, Winter came across a few grubs. Feeling rather hungry, he quickly took them and popped them into his mouth, chewing away at the insects as he worked away.

While he dug through the soft ground, Winter had tried to keep his mind busy, trying not to think about Luca and the others, wondering how they had died. Had Luca, Caesar, Glade... and the other warriors even had a chance to fight? Or were they all incinerated by one of the terrible human weapons? Launched from so far away, that they had never seen it coming towards them? Pausing in his work, Winter breathed deeply through his nose as he closed his eyes tightly. He hated to think of Glade or Luca and the others dying like that at all, much less like that.

Opening back up his eyes, Winter looked down at the ground from where he was digging and couldn't help but whimper quietly to himself. Everything was all wrong; all was unsettled. The entire army, gone-half of everyone he knew, alive one day, dead the next, or had turned traitors. They now had no village to return to, and even if they found a new place far away enough from the humans to be safe, how long would it take to build a new village? How many days or winters would be before things returned to normal? But then, things could never be normal again was there? Not if Caesar, Luca, Glade and more than half of the colony were dead.

Shuddering away from this bitter thought, Winter raised his head and gasped to himself as he found Red watching him through the trees.

" _I-I'm looking for lighter knot,_ " Winter signed nervously. " _T-to use to make fire quicker._ "

Red then landed with a thud a few feet in front of Winter and slowly made his way on over towards the him. Red stopped just out of arm's reach and looked around Winter before nodding once approvingly. He then caught the hesitant gorilla's eyes.

" _Is something wrong?_ " Red asked.

" _Everything is wrong,_ " Winter answered. " _Luca told me that gorillas were the walls of the village, even when there is no village. But if Ajax has turned against us, and the others-_ "

"They will come around," Red interrupted the frantic albino gorilla.

The rusted haired gorilla then paused for a moment, seeming to think.

" _What Luca told you was true. We much be the wall; we must shield the females and young from harm, even if that harm were those of our own,_ " Red explained as he reached around and pulled the rifle he wore by the strap, causing Winter to stiffen with fear.

Red seemed to smirk as he snort grunted in amusement at the albino gorilla.

" _Here, take this,_ " Red gestured. " _We apes are short-handed as it is. I told Grey that you could be trusted. Do not prove me wrong Winter._ "

Rising a little, Winter gingerly reached out and accepted the weapon from Red.

" _I-I won't disappoint you,_ " Winter signed quickly.

Red merely stared at Winter in silent for a long while.

" _If the traitors return. Come back to us, will you be able to shoot him?_ " Red questioned.

Winter paused for a long bit before he met Red's acid green eyes.

" _Are… Are you talking about Ajax?_ " Winter asked.

" _Ajax and others,_ " Red explained. " _Some of the females sneaked away when we were distracted._ "

" _Why?_ " Winter asked.

" _We had thought Ajax had kidnapped Cornelia at first so that the females would do as he said. That he was trying to make himself the Alpha now. The new king. But now, Grey… Believes something else happened; that it was Cornelia who poisoned Ajax's mind. And now some of her closest supporters-like Tinker-have gone to her as well,_ " Red explained.

At this Winter frowned.

" _I do not understand,_ " Winter signed confusingly.

" _Caesar is dead Winter and that means that Cornelia is no longer queen. No longer the female Alpha of the troop and tribe. Blue Eyes is gone as well, most likely dead too, so he will not return to take Caesar's place. Without them here, Cornelia is nothing and she knew that. She knew that Grey's mate Cedar would replace her. So Cornelia acted to keep her position. She may try to return and reclaim it,_ " Red explained.

Winter thought for a long while before realization stuck him and his eyes widened.

" _You want me to. I must shoot the queen?_ " Winter asked hesitantly.

" _She is no longer queen Winter,_ " Red signed back with a deep frown. " _She hurt Pongo, badly. Did you know that? She ripped off his ear and tear at his lip when he tried to stop her from leaving. And now she schemes against us. Some say she would rather lead the humans to us than lose her status as queen._ "

Winter balked at Red's gestures. It didn't seem possible. He had known the queen his entire life, she reaching out to him at times and even providing loving comfort when he needed it. What Red was telling him, couldn't be true. Could it?

Winter flinched when Red slowly reached out towards him but stop midway. Red eyed the white haired gorilla for a few heartbeats before taking a hold of Winter's arm, gently.

" _I am trying to help you, Winter. We need you with us,_ " Red gestured.

At this Winter closed his eyes for a moment. He had wished dearly that Luca or Glade was around to talk to, but they were not here. He suddenly felt a little angry at Luca. He should have been with them, with the rest of the Gorilla Guard, rather than fighting an impossible battle with Caesar. That then extended to Glade as well. He knew that the bonobo among the warriors of their tribe, but he could at least come along as well. But Glade had told him, that his place was with the other warriors and that had hurt Winter. It was their fault that Winter was now even in this situation. Hated by the traitors of their group and forced to do the unthinkable from what Red was telling him.

But he would nevertheless honor Glade and Luca's wishes. To be the wall for the apes and be a light for the apes, when they are lost in the dark. Whatever that had meant when Glade had told him before they had gone their separate ways, many nights ago.

" _I am in the Gorilla Guard,_ " Winter signed confidently, standing a bit taller. " _I am the wall against our enemies. I will do whatever I must to keep the troop safe. E-even… Even if it is from our own._ "

This made Red smile at the albino gorilla and he reached out to give Winter a few pats on the shoulder.

" _I know I could count on you,_ " Red told him.

…

The drive since evening of yesterday had been silent throughout. At one point during the night, Malcolm had switched positions with Feliz and hand resumed the rest of the driving. Alexander and Feliz had soon drifted off to sleep with Blue Eyes trying his best to stay awake. However, Malcolm had gently told him to rest, and Rocket as well, as they would need their strength from what's to come. So, with nothing much more to say, Blue Eyes closed his eyelids and tried to not think about of what he had just learned.

The next time he opened his eyes, Blue Eyes was met with the early lights of the sun and the still running engine of the vehicle they were in. Huffing, Blue Eyes righted himself and groggily looked around to see that Feliz was now driving again with Alexander sitting in the other seat next to her. Malcolm had switched placed with the teen girl and was fast asleep in the seat next to him with Rocket on his other side, staring out in the distance. Blue Eyes stared at his uncle for a long moment before he reached out and tapped the older chimpanzee on the shoulder, gaining his attention.

" _Why not tell me?_ " Blue Eyes questioned.

Rocket simply stared back and this caused something within Blue Eyes to boil. Before he could furiously sign again, the older chimpanzee slowly reached out with one hand and took a hold of Blue Eyes', effectively stopping him.

" _Because your father knew this would happen,_ " Rocket explained simply, gaining a perplexed look from the prince himself. " _Your father told me. To not tell you about Koba. Because he knew that your mind would have been distracted on this journey, knowing that Koba was still alive. Your father wanted you-_ "

" _He had no right! You had no right!_ " Blue Eyes threw his hands up to interrupt his uncle in a fuming huff. " _I could have helped him! Could have seen him! Could have taken care of him!_ "

At this outburst, Rocket rose himself up on his seat, causing Blue Eyes to cower slightly but then defiantly, he rose as well, to meet with Rocket.

After a brief tense moment, Rocket released a breath and softened his features slightly.

" _There was nothing you could have done for him. He was badly hurt. Ape medicine would not help him,_ " Rocket explained. " _You could not have helped him._ "

The older chimp then turned his head slowly and met Blue Eyes' gaze.

" _And I don't believe you wanted to talk to Koba,_ " Rocket simply gestured, causing Blue Eyes to freeze.

" _What makes you think that?_ " Blue Eyes inquired with a angry scowl.

Rocket then leaned in close to Blue Eyes, so close that their faces were merely inches away from each other.

"Because. The way. You look. Was like. Me. When I saw. Him," Rocket said to the younger chimp.

This caused Blue Eyes to lean away from the bigger ape in confusion. Wondering what Rocket meant when he said, 'like him?'

" _I Wanted to hurt him. Rip him. Smash his head onto the ground until he no longer moved,_ " Rocket gestured, causing Blue Eyes' eyes to widen slowly. " _That look you have. Is just like mine. A look that shows that you want to hurt another. For what they had done to you. That is why you were not told about Koba. To keep you away from him so that you do not have these feelings or thoughts. Why your father sent you on this journey._ "

Blue Eyes suddenly felt as if the heat within him was turned off and cold seeped through every inch of his veins. Was that really how he felt? Did he really want to hurt Koba instead? But that didn't make any sense to him. Did he not miss the scarred bonobo? Was what he thought. What he felt about Koba been a lie? A lie that he made for himself? Placing his thoughts of sadness and sorrow for that of anger and hatred? Had he really instead, wanted Koba back just so that he could hurt the older bonobo? For what he had done to them? Make him suffer? But, he had wept for the older ape didn't he? Why was this so confusing for him?

Huffing lightly, Blue Eyes slowly turned away from Rocket in shame. For reasons unknown to him, he knew that deep down, what Rocket had told him was right. He really did want to hurt Koba. Make him suffer. Make him feel all the pain and loss that he did. But then would that make him any better? Blue Eyes couldn't believe that he held such dark thoughts within him and it scared him. He then felt a knuckle under his chin, making him turn back, to look up at Rocket whom met his gaze with forest green eyes.

" _I… I'm scared Rocket,_ " Blue Eyes gestured, whimpering. " _I am scared._ " Blue Eyes continued to the older chimp.

Slowly, Blue Eyes was enveloped within big strong arms and he felt Rocket placing his chin atop of his head comfortingly.

"It. Okay." Rocket simply said the two words aloud. "Okay. To be. Scared."

Hearing this from the older ape, Blue Eyes shut his eyes tightly and hugged Rocket back strongly.

"Hey, you guys okay?"

Blue Eyes lifted his head away from Rocket and turned slowly to look at Alexander whom had stopped talking with Feliz to looking at the both of them with worried eyes.

"Okay," Blue Eyes responded with a sniff as he quickly rubbed away at his eyes with the back of his arm.

"Okay," Alexander smiled warmly back.

Eventually as the early morning dragged on and Malcolm finally waking up. Feliz had suddenly made a noise as she pointed out in front of them.

"There it is! That's the place, I guess," Feliz said aloud.

As Feliz exclaimed excitedly, everyone followed her finger and saw what looked like a small mountain ahead of them. It lay beyond along a narrow strip of beach, and was shaped like a dome. The road that they were on however, turned away, headed inland to what appeared to be either a human village or ruins of one.

"Where boat?" Blue Eyes asked.

"There!" Feliz shouted, as she pointed to something that was just vanishing behind the rocky upthrust.

"Hang on guys!" Feliz announced.

Rocket and Alexander yelped as the human girl suddenly turned the car off of the road. They bumped across a rocky divide and then onto the sands. She gunned it, frightening a flock of sea birds and a few sleepy seals that were resting upon the beach.

"You're crazy!" Blue Eyes heard Alexander shouted over the roar of the engine.

"Hey! If you have a better plan. I'm all ears!" Feliz could be heard yelling back.

"Just keep your eyes on where you're driving!" Malcolm interjected.

As they neared the rock that was shaped like a dome, another spider web of cracks appeared on the windshield with a small plink noise. The girl cursed and yanked at the wheel, slewing the vehicle sideways on the sandy beach. Two more bullets plucked into the metal doors as they all scrambled out of it and ducked for cover.

"I see'em," Feliz said to the others as she leaned into the vehicle. "They're on the rocks up there."

Blue Eyes, breathing deeply with the others, gauged the distance. They were close, but there was nothing but open ground between them and the shooters. Even if they ran for it, they would most likely be shot at.

"You guys go ahead," Feliz said to all of them, meeting all of their eyes and working the bolt action on her rifle. "You all run fast. You hear? I think I can keep them all busy until you all get close.

"Wait! Are you sure?" Malcolm asked the girl.

"What about you?" Alexander asked next.

"I'll be fine," Feliz answered back. "You guys go. The others are waiting for you all to save them. I'm going to do my part," she said aloud.

Everyone around Feliz seemed hesitant but the girl merely rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on now. Don't do this. Just go okay," Feliz said to the others as another bullet whizzed on by, over their heads.

Feliz then felt a soft grip upon her arm, causing her to meet sky colored hues.

"Thank you. Feliz," Blue Eyes said softly to the teen girl who smiled back at him.

"See you around, Baby Blue. You be safe. All of you," Feliz turned to the others.

"You be safe too. We wouldn't have done this without you," Malcolm thanked the girl.

Feliz smiled up at the man and then turned to look at Alexander who met her fiery gaze.

"Take care, Feliz. And thank you," Alexander said to the girl, to which Feliz nodded once.

Both Feliz and Alexander stared at each other for a long moment before the girl cleared her throat.

"Alright you guys! On the count of three, okay? One, two…"

At three Blue Eyes, Rocket, Alexander and Malcolm were suddenly in motion. The sands in front of them kicked up in front of them, one whizzing by Alexander's torso. However they all heard the loud crack from behind them as Feliz shot back with her own rifle. They all focused on running, leaving the girl behind, as Feliz kept on shooting at their attackers.

As Blue Eyes ran, he saw Rocket and despite the older ape's advancing years, had picked up a big lead on all of them. Their antagonists were visible now, three of them total. He saw one of them lean out, line up his rifle towards him. Blue Eyes knew that he should try to dodge to the side, but his legs kept carrying him forward. His heart leapt within his chest as a voice inside of him yelled. _No!_ Just then there was a report off to his right and the man jerked back, dropping his rifle as he did so. Taking a quickly glance, Blue Eyes saw the smoke coming out of Malcolm's gun as he kept on running and then fired his gun again at the other humans.

Rocket had then unlimbered the rifle that was strapped around him and sprayed bullets at the men on the rock as well, causing them to duck and cover. The bald chimp then hurled himself at the sea-pocked surface of the stone and began clambering up beside it.

Blue Eyes covered the last few yards and scrambled up the stone as well, wincing at the sharp bite of barnacles on the palms of his hands but ignored it altogether to get at the humans that were shooting them. Another man appeared, aiming at him, but now Blue Eyes had gone strangely quiet inside. He saw the stone near the man's face suddenly shatter, saw him duck behind his cover once more. Leaping over, Blue Eyes soon found himself there, right on top of the man. The gun wasn't quite pointed at him. With one hand, he grabbed the barrel, shoving it away. He then heard the report as it went off, watched the man's face warp in terror as Blue Eyes' other arm came swinging down like a club right onto the human's head. The man fell limp with a thud and Blue Eyes dropped the gun, hissing as he had only just beginning to comprehend that he had burned his palm on the hot barrel.

"Blue Eyes?"

Blue Eyes glanced upward from his hand and met Alexander's pale blue hues, a look of worry crossing the teen's features as he pushed himself up and over the rock's edge. The both of them looked behind them when they heard a brief struggle and Rocket coming out as victor as he caused the other shooter to go unconscious.

"Don't you make a move," Malcolm warned the third man who was shot in the shoulder.

"P-please, don't kill me," the man begged to which Malcolm walked on over and took his weapon, handing it off to Blue Eyes.

Just then they all heard more reports of gunfire behind them, causing them to turn around in the direction from where they came from. A quick look over the stones showed several more soldiers on the beach. One of them laid on his back; three more were making their way towards the vehicle where Feliz was at. To all their surprise though, they watched as the vehicle suddenly lurched forward and was now in motion, driving away with Feliz behind the wheel. Everyone aimed their guns at the men that were shooting at her and fired a few of their rounds at them, causing them to scatter. Then the men turned their attention to the four of them and were making their way on over.

"We go! Now!" Rocket shouted as bullets pelted at the stones in front of them.

They all agreed and moved away from the lip of the giant rock that they were on, making their way on over to where they could now see the ship below them. From their vantage point, they could make out the boat stationed near a series of white tanks, but it was already beginning to move slowly away from the dock. Blue Eyes and Alexander move forward but both Rocket and Malcolm stopped the younger two, pointing out several soldiers standing guard, but none of them were looking up at them. One of the soldiers was just beginning to look upwards in their general direction but was too late as Malcolm, Rocket and Blue Eyes had quickly subdued them.

"Okay, everything seems clear. Those guys behind us aren't climbing up the stones like we did, but we gotta hurry" Alexander confirmed as he caught up with them.

Then they all stared at the boat as it moved away further and further across the water. It was already too far away-and moving far too quickly-to even consider swimming after it.

Blue Eyes suddenly felt drained; the fire that had seemed to drive him forward was now gone and an emptiness formed within him, like the hallow point of a tree.

"What now?" Alexander breathed.

Rocket had then suddenly bounded forward, towards one of the fuel tanks. Blue Eyes the noticed something he hadn't before; there was a small boat, not much longer than a big car. He then watched as Rocket leapt onto the boat and reached under a tarp, pulling out a struggling human by the arm.

"Oh, God! Hey!" the human shouted. "Please, please please, I didn't do anything I swear! I'm not even with these guys-"

Blue Eyes then stood over the man and gestured at the boat.

"You can drive this?" Blue Eyes demanded.

"Oh, holy crap," the man breathed with wide dark colored eyes.

The man was a thin, wiry fellow with black colored hair that fell towards his shoulders. "You're talking. You're talking, aren't you?" What the hell is happening?"

Blue Eyes then came nearer, until their faces were almost touching each others. He then spoke each word separately, trying to make himself as clear as possible.

"Can. You. Drive. The. Boat?"

The man closed his eyes tightly and turned away from Blue Eyes as he shielded his face. At this Blue Eyes didn't have time for and he was going to repeat himself once more before Malcolm suddenly called up.

"Hey guys! The keys are in. I can drive this!" he called from the front of the boat.

This was a relief to the other but then that left the man.

"What about him?" Blue Eyes asked.

"Can you swim?" Alexander quickly turned to the frightened man.

"Y-yeah?"

"Toss him overboard. We're right next to the docs. He'll be fine," Alexander said aloud as he was untying some kind of rope from the side of the wooden docks.

"Hey! You guys can't just take my-"

Before the man could finish, Rocket pulled the man up by the scruff of his shirt and tossed him over the side of the boat that they were all on. The two apes watched as the man came spluttering back up, coughing and gagging as he swam over and held onto one of the wooden poles of the docs.

"Thieves!" the man shouted.

"Sorry! We need this boat to save our friends! It's going for a good cause!" Malcolm called back over his shoulder before he started up the boat and much like the vehicle, moved forward, leaving a small wave of water in its wake.

Just in the nick of time as gunfire started to sound off around them once more as the men from the other side of the rock finally made it around and spotted them. Soon enough the four of them were far enough out at sea that now nothing posed any immediate danger. With a unanimous sigh, everyone finally relaxed and settled down.

"That was a rush," Alexander spoke aloud.

"Yeah tell me about it," Malcolm answered as he slowly glanced back at the others. "Everyone doing okay? No one got hurt right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Alexander answered.

"Okay," Blue Eyes voiced, after looking around himself.

"No. Hurt," Rocket grunted.

"Alright then. We'll see how well we do in trying to catch up with that boat," Malcolm announced as he shifted the throttle forward.

…

Red came from behind Grey, seeing the brown haired chimpanzee sitting atop of a stone that jutted out over the troops as they were all taking their rest for day.

"Found. Her?" Red heard Grey's grave voice in front of him.

The brown haired chimpanzee then slowly turned his head to meet Red's gaze. Red could see that Grey did not look well. His eyes were red, puffy and he looked like he had not slept at all.

" _No,_ " Red signed back finally, earning a frown from the chimpanzee who turned his head away once more.

"Then. Look. Harder!" Grey commanded.

Red walked up right next to the brown haired chimpanzee and looked him over.

" _Your daughter and Tinker are elusive. They have evaded all of us during Oaka's outburst. Many are still looking, but it is very difficult. The forest is vast and who knows where they have gone to. But I promise that we will find your daughter,_ " Red signed, earning a scowl from the chimpanzee.

Red huffed out. Since of Maple and Tinker's disappearance, Grey had moved the group at a slower pace in hopes that when his daughter returns, she will find them. It baffled Red. When Red had looked upon Cedar, he noted how the female, who was queen now, would only say that her daughter is acting out, having a temper tantrum and that soon enough she'll return in due time. Whereas Grey was very concerned of their child, alway actively keeping his eyes out for her just in case. Such different personalities between the two when it came down to their daughter. But right now, it was what it was, and Red couldn't do anything else but follow Grey's lead. He was after all, Alpha of the troop now…

" _Make sure our apes are on the constant lookout. Let me know immediately if my daughter is sighted. Understand?_ " Grey signed as he turned to look up at Red.

Red frowned, but nodded anyways to appease Grey.

" _When do we move again?_ " Red asked, gaining a side glance from Grey. " _We must move soon. It is dangerous for us to stay in one place too long,_ " Red applied.

" _We move when apes are rested and our prisoners are fed,_ " Grey simply signed as he stood up. " _Now leave. You have your orders,_ " he gestured to Red.

At this, Red bowed and eased away from Grey, a deep frown upon his features as he turned from the brown haired chimpanzee.

Watching Red take his leave, Grey let his gaze fall back onto the troop, watching as the females all huddled together, guarded by the defected Gorilla Guards. Not too far from them were their prisoners, guarded by some of the warrior apes who stood by. Lastly, Grey frowned as he spotted Cedar, signing jovially with some of the other females and hooting loudly as she kept many of the apes in check. Heaving loudly, Grey closed his eyes tightly, as he tried to calm his beating heart that hammered in worry within his chest for his daughter. With everything that was happening, he had not expect Maple to run off like this and it had hurt him that she had done such a rash thing. He only hoped that she was somewhere safe, out there, with Tinker and maybe Cornelia.

...

With a huff, Koba was walking around the house again and a few times had even gone outside to breath in the fresh air that blew around him. It had been several more sun cycles for him since he was able to walk again, but he had listened to Ellie and tried not to strain himself too much. If he was lucky though, he would only need several more days before he was well enough to go back and join Caesar and the others.

"Caesar…" Koba said softly aloud.

Oh how much he's missed them. How long has it been since his fall? Days? Weeks? Months? He knew naught how long it has been, but it was much too long and from what he could hear in the distance, several days ago, the fighting has yet to cease among apes and humans. Typical, humans will never let their hatred of the apes go, much like he. But he was different now yes? Maybe, just maybe he can change? If not all of him but just a little could turn the tide.

Looking down at the can in his hand, Koba frowned at the strange bean like morsel that was doused in some strange slop. It was not much to his fancy, much too plain for him but it was food nonetheless and Ellie had told him that it will help him get better, as he needed to eat and get stronger. His ribs still showed but what could he do with what they had? Ellie had barely scrounge enough food as it was and soon enough, there wouldn't be anything left for them. Which was good, because Koba himself was getting rather sick and tired of this place. It wasn't that he didn't like this human home, this was Caesar's home after all, but this kind of setting was not for him. His experiences with humans was still raw and harsh, haunting him, maybe never ever leaving his mind. But he was not going to allow such things to control him anymore. He was going to be better, for himself, Caesar and the rest of the apes.

Grunting, Koba turned around and went back inside Caesar's old human home. He had finished the canteen and placed it upon the countertop, grabbed one of the containers of water and began drinking from it. After he was done and placed the container back down, Koba perked up when he thought he had heard crying. He paused for a moment and concentrated, wondering if his ears was playing tricks on him. But then he heard that whimpering noise again. Curiously, Koba walked down the hallway and finally found the source of what was making those crying sounds.

There, sitting upon the couch was Ellie, as she was looking down at something on her lap. Koba silently walked into the room and noticed that Ellie was looking down at the sketchbook that the human boy had drawn in.

"Ellie?" Koba said, causing the woman to gasp and look up in his general direction.

"Oh Koba, you surprised me," Ellie responded as she quickly wiped away at her eyes and sniffing all the while. "Is something wrong? Are you hurt? Did you need more food?" She had asked quickly.

Koba didn't answer her. Instead he walked on over to where Ellie sat and looked down at the sketchbook in her lap. There he could see what looked like a picture and a drawing of all three of them. Ellie and the older and younger male human that was with her, her family. He then met her gaze.

"You are crying. Sad," Koba breathed out. "You miss your family?"

Ellie seemed to have paused for a moment, looking as if she was going to say something but then she deflated her shoulder and nodded. Tears flowing down her cheeks.

"I miss them dearly Koba. It's been almost three months now and I… I can't help but worry for them," Ellie explained. "I'm so scared for the both of them," she said in a whisper.

Koba exhaled through his nostrils as he glanced back down at the picture and sketch. He reached up to scratch at the back of his head.

"Names?" Koba asked as he tapped a finger upon the older and younger human males.

"That's Malcolm and that's Alexander or Alex as he likes to be called" Ellie said slowly.

"Stupid human," Koba said suddenly, pointing to the older human and causing Ellie to go wide eyed. "He came alone to ape home. Very stupid," Koba said lowly with a frown. "But. Very brave," he finished a little after, looking up to meet Ellie's olive colored gaze. "Ellie does not need to worry. About him. And son. Both are very brave and kind humans," Koba explained to the human nurse. "Stupid. But brave."

Ellie was shocked still for the moment but then she closed her eyes as more tears fell from them. Instead of crying though, the room was filled with a merry laughter that echoed all around them.

"Thank you Koba. That's very sweet of you to say," Ellie thanked the scarred bonobo whom merely grunted and nodded at her.

It grew silent between the both of them again as both Ellie and Koba looked down at Alexander's drawings.

"We get ready soon," Koba suddenly piped up, causing Ellie to look up at him. "When time is right. We leave this place. Go back to Caesar and other apes," he said slowly.

"Are you sure you're up for it? We can stick around here still until your fully recovered Koba," Ellie said softly as she closed the sketchbook and set it aside.

"Already better. Stronger now," Koba responded. "We must go soon. Human soldiers come closer every day. Soon not safe here anymore," he explained. "We must leave."

At this Ellie paused as she met Koba's milky white and golden-green eyes. She stared at him for a long while before heaving out a tired breath and nodding slowly at him.

"You're right. Soon enough it won't even be safe around here anymore," Ellie agreed as she looked around themselves. "I'll start packing to leave soon," she concluded.

"Yes, we go," Koba agreed as he slowly turned to look out the window.

Soon enough, Koba would finally be home and hopefully. Just maybe, Ellie will be able to see her family again as well. Until then, they will have to wait out a few days and find the perfect moment for them to venture back into the harsh outside world. A world where apes are feared and humans will do what they can to eradicate them.


	36. Chapter 36

Caesar met up with Luca and Maurice halfway up the pylon of the north end of the bridge. Together, the three of them considered the human camps that was set on either side of the great structure that loomed over the cold waters below. Caesar glanced down at the water, remembering that it now held many of his fallen brothers and sisters.

" _They are waiting on something,_ " Caesar signed to the other two.

"Waiting, waiting for us to starve," Maurice signed next. " _Or more likely, for us to run out of drinkable water._ "

Caesar breathed through his nostrils. They had water and food, both for themselves and the horses, to last for at least another week at most. He was thankful that he had spent the days before the ship had arrived, making certain that they had supplies to last. But the human soldiers might not have known that.

But he also didn't think that was it.

" _They fought hard,_ " Caesar gestured. " _Very hard, as if determined to destroy us in one big fight. They have us in a bad position. With their weapons, they could beat us now-why wait though?_ "

" _They could beat us,_ " Maurice answered. " _But in doing so, many of them would die as well. Maybe their leader is not one to waste what life he has left,_ " he concluded.

Caesar couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the human camp.

" _Then he is waiting on something,_ " Caesar replied. " _More humans, a new weapon-something. So, we cannot wait as well._ "

" _What then?_ " Luca signed next. " _Do we take action or not?_ "

Both Caesar and Maurice turned to look at Luca. The gorilla sounded eager. He had been of the opinion that they should go on the offensive days prior. Now though, it seemed like Luca's option was probably the best for them at this point.

" _We will go against the northern camp then. Where the forest is,_ " Caesar gestured. " _All of us, all at once. Hit them hard,_ "

At this Maurice breathed out deeply.

" _So many of us will die,_ " Maurice had signed. " _Many had already abandoned us when we needed them the most. If we succeed at all, most of us will die,_ " he concluded.

Caesar breathed deeply and side glanced Maurice. The older orangutan was right. During the midst of their fighting, many of their brothers had abandoned them, going who knows where. Caesar remembered as clear as day when Maurice had lumbered on over to him of the terrible news.

That had done their best to keep the human soldiers occupied. Keep their attention as long as possible so that their families could have the chance to escape through the forest. They were going to keep this front up as long as possible and once it was over, rejoin them, as planned. What Caesar and the others had not expect though, was nearly half their forces abandoning them midway through the whole ordeal.

Maurice, Luca and Caesar had concluded that they were supporters of both Pope and Koba. Someone had to be leading them and there was one ape that came to Caesar during their deduction. One who was capable of leading such a troop away under false pretence - Grey. He hand confided his thoughts to both Maurice and Luca, with the two apes agreeing that Grey was a high possibility, who had lead many of their forces to defect. Whatever the reason was now, Caesar had decided that he will deal with the turncoats later. That is, if they come out of this alive.

" _Some of us might survive,_ " Caesar responded. " _That is better than none of us. I fear if we wait until the humans have what they want-whatever they are waiting for-none of us will ever see our friends and family again._ "

" _It is better if we have a chance than not do anything,_ " Luca signed to the orangutan.

Maurice frowned as he met Luca's eyes and then Caesar's. He then glanced back at the human camp before heaving out a deep tired breath.

" _It is the most sensible thing to do,_ " Maurice admitted, reluctantly. " _If anything in war can ever be called sensible._ "

" _War is never sensible,_ " Caesar answered as he eyed the humans as well before turning his sights back to both Maurice and Luca. " _Let our warriors know. Get them ready._ "

…

Neither of them were hunters like their mates or sons, but any ape from the old days knew something about tracking, and neither the trail Ajax had left nor that of the apes following him was subtle. Cornelia and Tinker had picked it up in the late afternoon and kept on following it.

From the looks of it, Ajax was either lost or not trying to return to Caesar; his blood led through territory that became more and more familiar as they went along, but it did not lead southward. Cornelia had a feeling she knew, then, what the gorilla's destination was.

As they approached the designated place, a gentle rain began to fall. Everywhere around them still smelled like smoke, despite the passage of time and despite the rain that was falling around them. Cornelia, Tinker and Maple were quite surprised to see how much of their home was still standing; the biggest timbers were scorched to charcoal on the outside, but the fire had burned out before reaching the heart of the wood. Most of the wall could still be traced, and even the spiral pattern of what had once been Cornelia and Caesar's dwelling retained a semblance of its shape.

In his pain, perhaps delirious state, Ajax must had returned home. To the place he had pledged to defend with his life. To the Ape Village, which Pope had burned down.

At first, Cornelia and the other two could not bear to set foot within their old home. In some ways the burning of their village. A place where all the apes had come together to build, was just disheartening for the three females. It was an unthinkable act, even for Pope. Especially for Pope. But they had learned that anger and greed was the emotion that twisted the very fiber of their being, that seemed to make all wrongs right. In this case, Pope's usurpation of Caesar's leadership.

Cornelia took in a deep breath of the smoke-perfumed air, and passed through the blackened gates, followed closely by both Tinker and Maple. The three of them walked through the trench closely with one another and eventually made it to the open area of the colony.

It was there they found Ajax, slumped against the wall in Maurice's school area. Maple had let out a frightened screech and had looked away. Cornelia however knew that the moment she saw him that it was already too late; his eyes were like glass, fixed on nothing and his fur was matted with blood, a pool of it forming on the ground next to him. Cornelia, Tinker and Maple walked up to the deceased gorilla and the queen gently reached out, closing Ajax's glassy eyes.

" _He was still so young,_ " Tinker signed as she held onto the trembling Maple.

"He is gone now," Cornelia signed back, turning to look at both Tinker and Maple, holding Cornelius closer to her chest. "Must not forget. His sacrifice," she continued.

While they were mourning for Ajax, the three females froze when they heard chattering, not too far from them. They all huddled together and looked about, trying to see where the noise was coming from. Then they heard it again, coming off a little distant away. After a brief pause, Cornelia made to move, but Tinker had quickly taken a hold of her arm, shaking her head all the while. Cornelia however met Tinker's concerned eyes with hers and took a deep breath before allowing her feet to move forward again, with the other two silently following after her.

As they neared whomever was making the noise, the three females finally saw that they were coming from a couple of apes, who seemed to be standing over something. The closer they got, Cornelia could now see that the two apes that were making the noises were none other than Shell, easily noticed by his single white ear and Flint, noticed by his black and grey hairs. Both were hooting and huffing at each other, signing frantically with their guns strapped to their backs. Cornelia was confused as to what the two were doing but as she glanced down at the ground beside them, she then noticed another figure there. There laying on the ground was another ape, with a spear lodged through his belly and a pool of red forming underneath him, muddling with the wet ground.

Cornelia then approached the three apes and as she got closer, she could now see that the wounded ape was none other than Thorn, who took notice of her and raise his gun. Both Flint and Shell noticed this, turned around, surprised to see the queen and two other follower of hers. They then quickly unstrapped their weapons and aimed them at the females.

" _Flint, Shell, Thorn,_ " Cornelia signed the three apes names. " _Put your weapons down._ "

"No," Flint grunted with a scowl. "We were told. To shoot. You," he continued.

" _Shoot us? We are no danger to you,_ " Maple jumped in beside Cornelia.

"Why. You with Cornelia and Tinker? They traitor," Shell rumbled as well.

Cornelia then drew herself to her full height at the younger males.

"I am. Cornelia," she spoke. "Wife of Caesar. Your queen."

"Wife. Of. Caesar," Thorn haggard out from his spot on the ground, blood oozing down his lips. "Caesar killed. Pope and Koba."

" _Pope was driven by madness. Manipulated our apes to fight. He deserved to die,_ " Tinker signed next in anger. " _Koba. He…_ "

" _Is gone now too,_ " Cornelia finished for her friend.

Thorn coughed, causing both Flint and Shell to flinch and hoot lightly before the wounded chimp recollected himself, chuckling quietly.

"Pope. Crazy. But Koba. Was strong," Thorn wheezed out.

"Koba. Strong leader," Flint agreed, nodding his head. "Strong for apes."

Cornelia gave Cornelius to Tinker to hold and then took a step towards the three younger males, they pointed their guns at her. She paused then took another step, then another, until she was much too close for either Thorn, Shell and Flint to miss her if they were to pull the trigger of their rifles.

"Thorn. Shell. Flint," Cornelia said softly but firmly. "Put. Guns. Down."

Shell and Flint bared their fangs at her but even if they did so, Cornelia could see the weapons in their hands shaking slightly. Thorn then huffed and coughed, loudly, blood oozing from his mouth. Seeing this, Cornelia then continued forward.

"Stay back!" Flint barked.

"Or we shoot!" Shell followed.

Cornelia however ignored the two young males and approached them. She kept on going, moving past both Flint and Shell, right on over to where Thorn was. She looked down at the wounded chimpanzee and slowly knelt beside him, not at all disturbed by the end of the gun barrels that were pointed at her. She looked down at the young male, seeing his wound, hearing his ragged breathing, noticing the way his limbs shook every few seconds. She couldn't help but offer Thorn a pitying look as she met his fierce green eyes. Cornelia then slowly reached out towards the chimp and brush away at his brow, tenderly picking away at the twigs and leaves that were matting his fur, surprising him, Shell and Flint.

"What doing!" Shell demanded.

"Grooming," Cornelia answered without turning away from Thorn who kept his eyes on her. "Caring."

Both Flint and Shell glanced at each other warily, unsure of what to do with Cornelia as she was tending to Thorn. Eventually though the anger that was set within Thorn's eyes began to fade away and he soon let his weapon sag to the wet ground with a thud.

" _Hurt a lot?_ " Cornelia asked causing both Flint and Shell to look at each other questionably.

Thorn huffed but he kept his fierce green eyes upon the queen.

"Nothing. You can. Do. For me," Thorn grounded out in a hiss.

" _You are wrong,_ " Cornelia answered the wounded chimp.

Cornelia then slowly and tenderly eased herself right next to Thorn and slid his head down to her lap. She then smiled sadly at him and began to stroke the top of his head as if she were tending to her own child. Flint and Shell too lowered their weapons as they watched Cornelia gently brush back Thorn's head hair. Eventually both Tinker and Maple walked closer as well, joining them, forming a circle around Cornelia and Thorn.

"Why. You. Do this?" Thorn questioned.

"Because. You. Shell. Flint. One of us. Our family," Cornelia spoke gently.

Thorn's eyes widened momentarily at Cornelia's words before he frowned.

"I… Sorry," Thorn grunted out, before a coughing fit wracked his body. "A-about Ajax. Everything."

As Thorn spoke, his eyes now held a sheen of unshed tears, to which Cornelia simply smiled warmly back down at him, cooing all the while.

" _I remember when you were younger, Thorn,_ " Cornelia signed, so that he could see, so they could all see. " _You, your little brother Fern, Fox, Shell, Flint, Ash, Lake, Maple, Ray, Winter, my Blue Eyes. The day with the butterflies. Do you remember that?_ "

Upon seeing this Thorn's eyes widened, as did Flint and Shell too.

"We Never saw," Flint spoke aloud. "Those kinds. Of butterfly before."

"There were so many. So pretty," Maple joined in. "All around us. Dancing. In the air."

" _Yes, you younger ones hopped and turned about with them,_ " Cornelia signed with a smile, turning to meet Flint, Maple and Shell's gaze. " _Trying to catch them,_ " she then looked down at Thorn again. " _You didn't want to participate, but you also didn't want to disappoint your little brother, who wanted to play. So you joined, even though you were a little older. It made me happy, seeing you all like that. Just playing and having fun._ "

Thorn's nose twitched several times as he blinked, letting a few droplets of his tears to fall. He then reached out and touched Cornelia's arm.

"S-scared," Thorn whimpered.

Cornelia smiled down at him, her eyes were wet now as well.

" _We only saw those butterflies once,_ " Cornelia continued. " _They went away, and they never returned. But we never forgot them, did we?_ "

"N-no," Thorn rasped.

" _Like the butterflies and your little brother, we won't forget the both of you either, Thorn,_ " Cornelia gestured to the young male in her lap. " _I won't forget you. Your brother your mother, or your father._ "

Tinker them moved in and knelt right next to the both of them. She glanced at Cornelia before looking down at Thorn and slowly, she reached out and placed a hand upon his brow as well.

"I won't. Forget. You too," Tinker said softly as she cradled Cornelius tighter to her bosom, the little prince looking about curiously.

"I-I so… So sorry…" Thorn murmured now, his eyes moving restlessly, as if he was asleep and dreaming. "So dark. Can't see," he rasped.

"Don't think of that," Cornelia shushed Thorn. "That done. Now. Think. Of butterflies. Think of friends. Think of family."

"Family," Thorn repeated.

Thorn then let his eyes wander up to the sky, where the blue streaks were breaking in the clouds up above with the light rain.

"Fern," Thorn breathed.

A few silent moments later, Thorn's body stopped shaking, his face relaxed and his breathing stilled, the sounds of light rain falling around them. Seeing the life leave from Thorn's eyes, Maple couldn't help but let her tears fall from her eyes, as did Flint and Shell as well. All crying for Thorn who had finally left them, leaving them in peace.

Tears fell from Cornelia as she reached out and gently closed Thorn's eyelids, like she done with Ajax. Just as she had seen her husband do to countless other apes that had passed on before. For some reason, she felt as if she understood now, why Caesar closed the eyes of apes who have perished. It made them look like as if they were sleeping instead and Thorn resembled that. Looking as if he were casually resting after a hard day's work, in her lap. She then cradled Thorn's body close to her bosom, feeling utter sadness for losing such an individual.

"We…" Shell whimpered out, causing all heads to look at him. "W _e tried to stop Ajax. Try to make him prisoner. But he would not listen. Wanted to fight. He. He then. Then Thorn,_ " Shell couldn't finish as his, burying his head into his arms.

Maple reached out and placed a gentle hand upon Shell's shoulder. She then slowly embraced the bigger male, with Shell returning her hug just as strongly.

Cornelia had known Thorn and his young brother, Fern, their tale was a tragic one. They were motherless after Fern had just been weaned from Sonja, who had fallen terribly ill the next few moons and with that, had passed on. Kimball, their father, had tried his best to raise his two sons, but unfortunately he too had succumbed to an injury he had sustained after a hunting accident, both Thorn and Fern finding their father's cold and unmoving body early next morning. She sniffed to herself as she brushed Thorn's cheek with a knuckle, wishing dearly that things had turned out differently for he and his family.

"Cornelia!" Tinker's voice whispered aloud, causing Cornelia to look up at her.

Cornelia then noticed that Tinker's head was directed elsewhere and she quickly followed her friend's gaze to see what the other female was staring at. To her surprise, Cornelia then saw, there, perched on one of the blackened walls of their home, sat Oak, one of the Gorilla Guards. He held a rifle in his hand. As he looked down at all of them. Both Shell and Flint looked nervous, unsure of what to do as Maple cowered down by Tinker's side. But Cornelia locked eyes with Oak, who didn't flinch at her stare.

Oak then jumped down from his perch on the wall, landing with a loud thud onto the ground. He then slowly knuckle walked on over to where the small group was and stared down at them. Flint and Shell looked terrified of him but they nonetheless eased themselves in front of the females nervously, using their bodies as a shield to protect them. Then to their surprise, Oak held his weapon out by the barrel and dropped it onto the wet ground with a plop.

"Ape. Not kill. Ape," Oak grunted before he bowed to Cornelia in obeisance. "No more. Fighting."

Upon seeing this, the group had let out a unified breath of relief.

" _What do we do with Ajax and Thorn?_ " Flint asked after a long while.

Cornelia looked down at Thorn in her lap and then turned her head to where Ajax was by the school area.

" _We will make beds for Thorn and Ajax in the trees,_ " Cornelia answered turning to look up at Oak who nodded at her. " _Put them to rest. Like the ones before them._ "

" _What then?_ " Shell asked.

" _Then we go home,_ " Cornelia replied.

" _What home? There is no home anymore,_ " Flint gestured confusingly.

"Home. Home is with. Apes," Cornelia spoke softly as she met Flint's gaze.

…

Later that evening, Red came upon Rex who was overseeing the troop.

" _How are we doing?_ " Red asked Rex who gruffed.

" _Sampson and others are still on patrol around the perimeter. Pongo and his scouts have not returned yet, as well as Thorn and the other two that went with him to hunt Ajax down. Oak had gone after them,_ " Rex informed.

" _Keep an eye out. We don't want any of the traitors to surprise us when we are all spread thin,_ " Red gestured to the dark haired gorilla.

" _Why are we even keeping them? They are so much trouble. It is better to get rid of them. Like we did with Ursus,_ " Rex signed as he glanced on over to where Brutus, Jeanpierre and Clarence were making their nests with the other apes who were not with them.

" _We must keep them alive for now, in case they join our cause. Also this is to not upset Grey, so that he can lead the apes to safety first,_ " Red explained.

The red gorilla then paused and look about himself.

" _Where is Grey?_ " Red then asked, now noticing that their new king has disappeared.

" _Do not know. I saw him over by the stone's ledge over there, but then he vanished. Maybe looking for his daughter again?_ " Rex answered.

At this, Red narrowed his eyes and had let out an annoyed huff.

" _Grey may be good as the new Alpha, but his weakness for his missing daughter will be the death of the troop,_ " Red explained.

" _Why worry? He may not even be king for long anyway,_ " Rex gestured.

" _Yes, but we still need him to lead. He is next best one that apes will listen to,_ " Red answered back.

" _And we can't?_ " Rex asked.

" _No,_ " Red answered. " _Not yet. At least._ "

Rex huffed and nodded understandably at the red haired gorilla.

" _I will continue to keep watch then,_ " Rex informed.

" _And I will go on patrol with others. Maybe find Grey. Tell him to move apes faster,_ " Red gestured back.

With that said between them both Red and Rex went on in their separate directions. One to the troops to keep an eye on them and the other to patrol and find their king.

...

As he rode in that boat of theirs, Blue Eyes had never imagined the sea like this, rising and falling in gigantic swells, the horizon vanishing for small eternities and reappearing as if seen from the top of a mountain, only to vanish into another watery gorge. He looked up at the sky and could see that it was pearly muddle, ran intermittently by rays of golden light and rifts of turquoise blue.

"Pretty isn't it? The sunset," a voice caught Blue Eyes attention, causing him to rotate his head towards the left, seeing Alexander. "The oceans, the sky, setting sun, all of it. I wish I had my sketchbook. It's rather beautiful."

"Beautiful," Blue Eyes echoed before turning his sights back to the sunset in the distance. "Yes. Beautiful."

Alexander grinned, a certain sadness set within the teens eyes before he turned to look at Blue Eyes.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you about Koba," Alexander said.

Blue Eyes turned back towards Alexander and breathed deeply. At first he did felt quite betrayed that both of the humans had kept the secret from him. But after his talk with Rocket, he now understood why they did it.

"It's okay. Had no choice," Blue Eyes responded, looking off down to the side.

Blue Eyes gaze darted up to look at Malcolm who was still at the steering wheel of the boat, Rocket standing right beside him. Huffing, Blue Eyes then let his gaze fall back down before he turned to look at Alexander again.

"Did not know."

"What?" Alexander asked, turning to look at Blue Eyes.

"Did not know that Ellie was not your mother." Blue Eyes said curiously.

"O-oh. Uh, yeah… She isn't," Alex responded quietly pulling his knees close towards him.

They both had gone quiet and Blue Eyes worried. He must have done something wrong as he noticed Alexander drawing in on himself. The human teen would only do this when he was upset. He didn't quite understand human emotions well enough yet, maybe he shouldn't have asked about Ellie not being his mother?

"But I couldn't ask for anyone else," Alexander spoke up, causing Blue Eyes to look at him. "She tried you know? Tried really hard to be a mom to me," Alex then huffed, one side of his lip turning up in a smile.

But Blue Eyes noticed that Alexander's eyes held something deep within them. Something akin to shame.

"But not me. I was a piece of work, now that I think about it. It was hard for me to accept that my mom, my real mom just up and left dad and I, you know? All I could remember was my parents coming to save me. After some kidnappers took me and some people. I was terrified, but they came and saved me. After it all went down. Mom, dad and I, we found a safe place. I was tired and fell asleep. Then next morning came around and I just never saw her again… It hurt, a lot. It wasn't until recently that dad told me that mom had left in order to protect us. Whatever that means. He said that she was sick," Alexander spoke out, wiping at his eyes with the back of his sleeves. "And I guess... I just kinda blamed Ellie that my mom disappeared. Man, I need to say sorry to her."

"I'm sorry. Did not mean to make you cry," Blue Eyes apologized.

"No. No. You're fine. Talking about it with someone finally, actually kinda helps," Alexander huffed with a sad smile before turning to fully beam at Blue Eyes. "Thanks for listening. You don't get a lot of people who would sit and listen to you," Alexander said quietly.

"People? Humans," Blue Eyes repeated, not sure what Alexander had meant.

"Apes, humans, does it matter? You're a person too," Alexander answered.

"I am ape. You are human. We are different," Blue Eyes said as a matter of factly statement with his head tilted.

"True, we look different but humans and ape. They're the same," Alexander smiled.

"How?" Blue Eyes asked.

Alexander then fully turned to look at Blue Eyes, before he gestured to his own face.

"I have eyes, up here Blue Eyes. Nose, ears, lips, just like you," Alexander pointed out.

Blue Eyes frowned as he looked at Alexander before huffing out and waved him off.

"Animals too. They also have eyes, ears, mouth and nose. All different," Blue Eyes grunted.

Alex seemed to think for a moment before his face lit up and he suddenly raised his left hand towards Blue Eyes, palm facing him with his fingers and thumb spread out.

"What doing?" Blue Eyes asked.

"Raise your hand" Alexander said.

Blue Eyes blinked as he looked from Alexander's face to the teen's palm several times before huffing out and did as was asked of him. He slowly lifted up his arm and showed Alexander his right palm with a frown. Then to his surprise, Alex placed his hand upon his own, so that this fingers and thumb lined up with each other.

"Your right Blue Eyes. We are different, physically. Like how you are a chimpanzee, I am a human and Ray is an orangutan. But we, all of us. Are the same," Alexander explained. "Apes? Humans? We all feel emotions. You and I. We feel fear, anger and sadness… But we also feel love, joy and courage in what we do "

Blue Eyes pulled back his hand and looked down at it for a long while, thinking about what Alex had just told him. Maybe Alex was right. Even if they were physically different, they were all very much the same. They walked upright, are able to communicate, can laugh and cry and feel a ray of emotions that just cannot be put into words or gestures.

"Same," Blue Eyes breathed in wonder, causing a smile to form upon Alexander's lips.

Eventually the sun dipped beyond the ocean's horizon and Malcolm had eased the boat that they were in closer to the shore's edge while they travelled along through the night. Since he and Alexander were the only ones that knew how to pilot the boat, Malcolm needed Alexander well rested before it was his turn to take over. So they all did what the older man had suggested, they would rest while he stayed up to pilot the boat that they were asked of how he was going to pilot in the dark, Malcolm had said that the ship had a built in compass and if he needed to, he could just shine a small bit of light on it to see where he was heading.

Rocket had procured a few blankets from under some compartments of the boat and gave each of the youngsters one. The older ape then wrapped himself with one of the sheets before he himself rested onto one of the seats nearby, Alex doing the same. Blue Eyes, like his uncle, wrapped himself with the blanket and laid onto one of the side seats.

The young prince must have been more tired that he had thought, as he laid down to rest. The instant he had closed his eyes, sleep had quickly taken over him. And in the dark, on the silent sea, he dreamed.

* * *

 **So a lot of differences in this chapter to all who had read the actual book. If you you have, is this change good or bad? Please let me know.**

 **And for Alexander's part. Where he talks about being kidnapped. If you want the full story of what happened to him, I highly suggest reading the "Dawn Of The Planet" comic series by BOOM! studious to understand more of what he's talking about.**

 **Apes mentioned in this chapter...**

 **Revelations**

 **Sampson - Gorilla grunt**

 **Oak - Gorilla grunt**

 **Original Characters**

 **Kimball - Thorn and Fern's father.**

 **Sonja - Thorn and Fern's mother.**


	37. Chapter 37

In the gray light of the morning, Cornelia woke up to find Tinker curled against her and Cornelius. The others not too far from them with, Oak sitting guard nearby. Smiling warmly, Cornelia reached an arm out and held onto the other female, causing her to lightly stir towards wakefulness. The moment Tinker's bright forest green eyes opened and met Cornelia's, she smiled gently in return, laying her head back down onto the soft earth beside her.

" _Sleep well?_ " Cornelia gestured, moving slowly as to not wake little Cornelius in her arms as she faced Tinker.

Tinker nodded slowly.

 _I dreamt of Rocket. My little Ash, and your Blue Eyes,_ " Tinker sighed as she gestured back.

" _You did? What did you see?_ " Cornelia asked.

Cornelia and the other females had long discussed the nature of dreams, and whether they meant anything or not. She herself knew that they were not real but once she had asked Caesar about this and he in turn had informed her that the dreams, to humans, meant many a things that were still a mystery to them. He had said that even if they were not real like the rocks and trees around them, that these dreams were very much still considered important as they could allude to many a things, and thus what Cornelia had confined in with the other females.

" _I do not remember all the details,_ " Tinker gestured. " _But I was afraid for them. That was what I felt,_ " she explained.

" _I am afraid for them while awake and asleep,_ " Cornelia replied. " _But I would fear more for them if they were here. With us. Right now._ "

Tinker nodded.

" _If Rocket and Ash were here, they would most likely be with Caesar and Blue Eyes, fighting,_ " Tinker signed.

" _Yes, I know,_ " Cornelia gestured back. " _That is why I am glad that those three are not here,_ " she continued.

Cornelia paused and stared deeply into Tinker's green orbs, letting the silence of the morning stretch among them as they both laid there.

" _Blue Eyes, being the son of Caesar-is not easy for him. So much is expected from him-by Caesar and the rest of the apes, but by himself most of all,_ " Cornelia continued with a sad frown.

" _I know,_ " Tinker empathized, knowing well of what her good friend was telling her. " _It is because he is prince. Both yours and Caesar son. Next one to rule._ "

" _He may be next to rule but I just want him to be happy. For him to be himself and be free. He does not need to lead the apes if he does not want to,_ " Cornelia explained.

" _Apes do not see it like that,_ " Tinker explained. " _They see him like how they see Caesar. An ape to look up to when times are difficult. They look for an ape to guide them._ "

" _It is a burden I wish he not have,_ " Cornelia huffed to which Tinker frowned as well.

" _But I am glad that he is with Rocket,_ " Cornelia signed instead. " _So that Blue Eyes can learn from him. Caesar… Caesar can be challenging, sometimes. With Rocket he is-easier. Caesar knows more about the world of humans and apes. He is smarter like that-but Rocket..._ "

Cornelia couldn't help but smile fondly at the thought of the bulky chimpanzee whom she grew up knowing, causing Tinker to blink curiously at her.

" _Rocket understands more. Feels more. Sometimes, he is a better teacher than Caesar,_ " Cornelia chuckled lightly.

At this, Tinker couldn't help but smile warmly as she laid her head upon Cornelia's chest and cuddled closer with her.

"Do you. Remember. When Caesar. First came. To us?" Tinker whispered, turning her head to look up at Cornelia. "At. The sanctuary?"

" _I do,_ " Cornelia gestured with a smile. " _He was wearing a red shirt. A human shirt._ "

" _He knew very little about being an ape,_ " Tinker signed back with a fond smile of her own. " _He was so puzzling to us all, that much I remember. So different and Rocket had treated him..._ "

Tinker then paused, a slight frown upon her features.

" _As any Alpha would have treated an intruding male,_ " Cornelia finished for her good friend. " _I remember that as well._ "

At this Tinker nodded slowly.

" _But Caesar had learned so fast during his stay,_ " Tinker continued. " _The way he did things, were not our ways. He used Buck, a gorilla, to dominate Rocket when he couldn't. What other chimpanzee would have ever thought of that?_ "

" _Back then, only Caesar,_ " Cornelia replied with a gentle smile.

" _Yes, only Caesar. And Rocket was humbled. And so, I assumed…_ " Tinker broke off in mid sign, obviously embarrassed.

" _What is it?_ " Cornelia asked, curious by her friend's sudden change in demeanor.

" _I assumed that I would be Caesar's, back then,_ " Tinker signed before she paused momentarily to reach up and play with her hair, shying away from Cornelia.

" _You wanted him?_ " Cornelia asked, amused.

" _Not just me, other females thought the same, too. I knew I was supposed to. It was how the way things were done, back then,_ " Tinker explained herself embarrassingly. " _He was so smart, strong and so different. He was like a light, outshining all of the others._ "

Seeing her friend's explanation, Cornelia hummed knowingly, understanding.

" _That I remember as well,_ " Cornelia gestured. " _I was so young, we all were. But I knew, even then that he and… But never knew you-_ "

" _But, I didn't,_ " Tinker frowned, answering back and surprising Cornelia. " _I knew that I was supposed to want him, but I did not. That is what was so strange,_ " Tinker continued. " _After he was no longer Alpha, Rocket was… Less. And I felt… Sorry for him. Even though I knew that I was suppose to go to Caesar instead. Even though that was how it was, back then. It was still Rocket whom I wanted, not Caesar. Caesar was blinding, like the sun is. So much that I could not bear it. Rocket was like the earth, the ground beneath, supporting me and the other apes before. My mate. I didn't want to give him up. And then-thankfully-Caesar didn't ask me to and I was glad for that._ "

" _Caesar probably did not even know he had the right to,_ " Cornelia signed with a soft chuckle.

" _Maybe not-but he would not have anyways. Caesar was always thinking about us, instead of himself. Always thought, what was best for us. He made an alliance with Rocket, even though Caesar could have continued to shame him, keep him in submission, like how it was always done. But, he took our old ways and made something new out of them, something wonderful. I love Caesar for that. But never the way I love my dear Rocket,_ " Tinker finished.

Cornelia was a little startled at Tinker's use of the sign for love. She had seen Caesar used that sign only when both of them were alone, and sparingly. Cornelia herself didn't know any of the other apes even knew the sign.

Apparently, she didn't know everything and was overjoyed that Tinker knew of a sign that was very intimate as well.

" _I am glad that Blue Eyes is with both Rocket and Ash, too,_ " Tinker continued after a brief quiet. " _Ash and Rocket is all Blue Eyes has left that he is close to, on their journey. If he had stayed, I don't want to imagine what would have happened to him as well. I was already so close to losing Ash once, I don't think both of our hearts could take losing either of our children. Especially after Koba almost..._ " Tinker trailed on.

" _I am sorry. We all did not know he would do that,_ " Cornelia soothed her friend.

" _I just don't understand why he and Pope would do such things,_ " Tinker gestured, a sad frown set upon her lips. " _I had thought that we were their family. Why would they do this to us?_ "

" _Nobody knows,_ " Cornelia replied. " _There are things that just cannot be answered no matter what we do and we must accept that._ "

Tinker's frown deepened as she drew her limbs closer to her body.

" _I had often thought. That like my Rocket and your Caesar. Both Koba and Pope were like many things around us too,_ " Tinker started, causing Cornelia to curiously look at her friend.

" _How so?_ " Cornelia asked.

" _Pope was… He was like the black sky of the night, without the stars. Always bearing down upon the apes when they sleep under it. Always thinking and looking, as if he wanted something but could not get to it,_ " Tinker gestured with a frown. " _As for Koba, he is like the dark clouds that comes once in a while. Anger and hatred builds within him. And like the storm, he roars with the thunder, lightning and rain, hurting all who are close to him,_ " Tinker finished with slow sorrowful movements from her hands.

Cornelia then frowned sadly as well, as she stared at Tinker.

" _Do you forgive him?_ " Cornelia asked.

Tinker silently blinked but turned her eyes up to meet Cornelia's and they both simply stared at one another.

" _I do not know. He tried to hurt my child. Can you ever forgive an ape like tha_ t?" Tinker replied.

Instead of answering, Cornelia silently embraced her friend, and for a while, neither of them signed. Eventually the true light of day began spilling through the burned village, causing the others around them to stir. Cornelia sighed deeply to herself, knowing that it was time for her to go.

" _I leave Cornelius with you, Tinker,_ " Cornelia signed to her good friend. " _I cannot take him with me. If I do not return, please find Caesar. Take to him his son. Can you do that?_ "

" _Yes, I promise._ " Tinker answered with a sad frown.

Cornelia slowly pushed her still sleeping child into Tinker's awaiting arms and nuzzled her face against him-softly, so as not to wake him. Cornelia met Tinker's eyes and then rose, gathered her things, and silently knuckle-walked away.

As she was nearing the gates, Cornelia found the others waiting for her. Curiously, she approached them.

" _We know that you said that you were only to go back to the troops alone, but we wish to go with you, queen,_ " Oak gestured.

" _You may go with me,_ " Cornelia answered. " _But if you do, you will leave that weapon here._ "

Without the slightest hesitation, Oak immediately dropped the rifle onto the ground.

" _As you say, Cornelia,_ " Oak quickly gestured. " _I have come to hate those things,_ " he finished.

Satisfied at this, Cornelia slowly turned her her sights to the three younger ones.

" _We go too,_ " Shell gestured, both Flint and Maple nodding.

" _It is dangerous,_ " Cornelia warned.

" _Everywhere is danger,_ " Flint signed back to Cornelia.

Cornelia then met Maple's gaze and held them.

" _If you are going. To confront mother and father. Then I must go with you. To make things right,_ " Maple gestured to Cornelia.

Cornelia smiled warmly at the brown haired female and slowly reached out to take her hands.

"Fault. Not yours. But, thank you," Cornelia spoke to the younger female.

She then turned to both Shell and Flint, meeting their determined gazes.

" _I need one of you to stay and protect Tinker,_ " Cornelia gestured to the two.

Both Flint and Shell turned to look at each other and after a brief discussion, both nodded their heads.

"I will stay. Keep Tinker and young prince safe," Flint spoke up.

Cornelia smiled warmly at the young male and reached out to touch his arm. "Thank you, Flint," she said softly to the young male.

Cornelia then turned to look at Shell and then eyed his weapon before meeting his gaze. It took Shell only a brief moment to understand before he quickly unstrapped his gun and tossed it a few paces away. With that said and done, Cornelia turned around and met Maple, Oak and Shell's faces.

"Let us go," she said to them.

…

The next morning, Blue Eyes opened his eyes in small slits as the sound of the running engine filled the air along with the cold of the rushing winds. Shuddering to himself, Blue Eyes lifted his head and squinted as he blinked away the sleep from his eyes, turning his head about to see where they were all at. From the looks of it, they still seem to be out at sea with a clear sense of thick fog all around them. Shuffling to his two feet, Blue Eyes looked over and could see Rocket still sleeping with Malcolm sleeping in a sitting position on the ground next to the older chimp. He then glanced up and could see Alexander sitting by the driver's seat, piloting the boat that they were all in. Wrapping the blanket tighter around his body, Blue Eyes then made his way on over to where Alex was and stood next to him.

"Where are we?" Blue Eyes asked in a tired voice.

"I don't know. Still going north," Alexander answered.

Blue Eyes blinked as he gazed out in front of them, only to see the thick fog still.

"You awake long?" Blue Eyes asked.

"Maybe a few hours ago?" Alexander replied before he spared Blue Eyes a quick glance. "Something wrong?"

Blue Eyes shook his head.

"Worried," he said simply. "Have not seen, other boat. Just. Worried," Blue Eyes explained.

Blue Eyes and Alexander were quiet as they speared through the ocean's waves. They could see nothing, no light of any kind. And again, Blue Eyes harbored a deep sense of fear and dread within his chest once more. A fear that was not for him but for his friends that were captured, the human, Armand, too. What if they were too late?

"Hey, Blue Eyes?" Alexander suddenly piped up, gaining Blue Eyes' attention. "Do you see what I see?"

Blue Eyes stared at Alex and then followed the human teen's gaze out towards the sea. He looked on and saw nothing but the dense fog before them. However, as he narrowed his eyes, Blue Eyes could now make out just the faintest of a large dark shape ahead of them.

"The ship," Blue Eyes breathed.

"We caught up with them!" Alexander said excitedly.

...

"Ready?" Ellie asked as she finished packing the last of her things into her pack.

The woman then looked up from what she was doing and saw the scarred bonobo shifting from one leg to the other, before the ape met her gaze. Koba huffed and nodded at her, eager to stretch out his legs and get back into action with his fellow ape brothers. Ellie smiled at Koba but then her face fell, replaced with that of a frown.

"What is wrong?" Koba asked.

"I-I…" Elie started but she couldn't say what she wanted to say.

Instead the woman got up and walked on over towards Koba, throwing her arms around him, embracing him tightly.

"I don't want you to fight," Ellie finally said aloud, burying her face into Koba's shoulder.

Koba was quite taken aback by this but then he relaxed, reaching up and giving Ellie a few firm pats on the back.

"I must fight," Koba spoke out. "Must help Caesar and other apes survive. We will always fight with humans. Humans who hate apes," Koba said quietly.

"Then run away. Find a new home. Somewhere. Anywhere. Where there is no humans to fight with," Ellie begged.

Koba pulled back and met Ellie's olive colored eyes with his golden-green and milky white one, a smile appearing on his face.

"That is why Blue Eyes is gone. As stupid human mate say. Caesar sent his son to find new home. So now, I help Caesar fight. Here and now," Koba answered.

At this Ellie silently nodded her head at the bonobo. Ellie was then surprised when she saw Koba's hand come close towards her face and then wiped away at her teary eyes. Koba drew his hand back and he offered Ellie another warm smile.

"There is no time. We must go now," Koba said quietly.

"Alright," Ellie responded as she stood up and went to grab her pack.

In just a few more moments, both Ellie and Koba had packed the vehicle up with as much supplies they needed to carry, with the two finally sitting within the driver and passenger seats.

Ellie started up the vehicle and was about to shift the gear into place to go but stopped briefly, letting her eyes gaze up one last time at the Rodman's house. Her eyes darted to where Koba sat and she could see him too, looking up at the house, his face set within a neutral state. A few breaths later, Koba finally turned his heavy heat towards her and blinked. Ellie took in a deep breath and nodded at him, before finally shifting the gear into place and driving off down the road towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

...

Malcolm and Rocket were woken up from their sleep as Blue Eyes shook them awake. The adults were going to ask the prince what was going on before the cobalt eyed chimp pointed in the direction where Alex had gestured to earlier. Both Malcolm and Rocket squinted their eyes at the shadowy form in the distance before realization hit the both of them. Immediately, Malcolm had taken the control from Alexander, checking everything once over.

"Oh, just in time. We're running so low on fuel now. I don't think we'll make it another few miles," Malcolm spoke up as he indicated to one of the dials, with the needle already on the red line of the giant E.

"Plan?" Rocket asked as he stood next to the two humans, along with Blue Eyes.

Malcolm was silent for a moment as he eyed the boat ahead of them before slowly turning around to look at the two chimps.

"I've got one, but you guys might not like it," Malcolm informed them.

They took their boat near to the other one as they could, before getting themselves all ready.

Blue Eyes thought he had been cold before, but fully submerged in the ocean, what was left of the heat within him seemed to dissipate instantly. If it weren't for the strange orange floats that both he and Rocket had put on, he knew that they both would have sunken beneath the waves before swimming three strokes. Glancing about, Blue Eyes was quite awed and surprised to see both Malcolm and Alexander wading through the water, without sinking to the bottom of the ocean. That was also something for him to add to his list of differences between man and ape.

The two humans helped dragged the two apes through the sea and soon enough they found a chain that hung off to the side of the boat. Blue Eyes and Rocket were quick to ascend the cold chains but the two apes could see their human partners having trouble pulling themselves up from the cold water. Rocket had ushered Blue Eyes up onto the deck of the vessel first before the older chimp quickly climbed back down and hauled the two humans up, one at a time. Once they had all made it onto the deck the four of them quickly hid themselves behind some crates.

The four of them then saw one human that was on watch, near the back of the boat, armed with a rifle. Before they could decide on what to do, Rocket had already gone ahead to deal with the human. Just as the man had turned around, Rocket had danced around him with surprising speed, despite still recovering from the cold of the sea. The three watched as Rocket then clubbed the man on the head with both fists. The man fell heavily to the deck with a loud thump, and nearly hairless chimpanzee taking his weapon.

"Good job," Malcolm congratulated Rocket, his breath oozing fog into the air.

"W-where go?" Blue Eyes asked, his teeth and body shaking so hard, just to keep his body warm.

"Guys!"

At the sound of the loud whisper, Blue Eyes, Rocket and Malcolm turned to see Alexander standing by one of the doors in the middle of the boat. They all converged to where Alexander stood and went through it. They all walked around until they found a stairwell that led down into the deeper parts of the boat.

" _Down there,_ " Rocket gestured. " _I smell them._ "

The group had just started down when they all heard a dull thud that carried off in the distance. They all turned to look, and saw a yellow glow appear in the fog, and then another. The mist was starting to lift, and through it they all now saw the outline of the great bridge-and towards the north end of it, the big ship.

"We're back in San Francisco," Alex breathed.

"Yeah..." Malcolm answered quietly as they notice another explosion erupting at the end of the bridge.

Suddenly, the boat's engine began to growl, causing the four of them to brace themselves, as it slowly started to move, picking up speed, headed towards the other ship that was headed toward the other ship.

"Let's hurry guys," Malcolm spoke up.

Blue Eyes took lead and with a single jump, landed right at the bottom of the steps. Rising back up from his crouched position, Blue Eyes came face-to-face with one of the humans on the boat.

Before Blue Eyes could react, the man pulled a sidearm; in the enclosed space, and fired. The report from the gun was deafening and Blue Eyes blinked. He looked down at himself and realized that he hadn't been hit. Before the man could take a second shot, Blue Eyes slammed right into the man, smashing him onto the deck. Just as the man was going to recover, Malcolm had quickly rushed in and slammed the butt end of his weapon onto the man's face, effectively knocking him out.

"Blue Eyes?" Rocket huffed as he immediately came to the young ape's side, looking him over.

"I am fine," Blue Eyes reassured the bigger chimp. "Gun missed."

The prince was then suddenly pulled into a strong hug by his uncle, surprising him.

"Never. Do again! Understand?" Rocket said in a firm voice as he pulled back and held onto Blue Eyes' shoulders.

Blue Eyes merely blinked up at the older chimpanzee and was confused as to why Rocket was acting so. But then he met Rocket's eyes and could see the concerned set within them. And for some reason, it made him feel small again.

Blue Eyes cast his eyes down to the side and nodded slowly but then felt Rocket hugging him once more, more softly and firmly this time.

Malcolm then stepped in and quickly checked Blue Eyes over, seeing that the young ape did not have any injury, nodding at Rocket.

"Humans hear gun. Must hurry," Rocket spoke to the others.

"Right. Come on," Malcolm agreed, reaching down to pry whatever weapons the second man had and gave it to Rocket. "Let's find our boys."

…

As Winter was doing his patrol around the area he was quite surprised when he saw Oak and Shell approaching with both Cornelia and Maple. Suspecting that maybe Oak and Shell had succeeded in capturing Cornelia and brought Maple back, then maybe things will be alright again. That maybe Grey could finally get the apes to safety now. But that left Cornelia in question, and he also did not see Tinker nor Flint with them. However, as the apes got closer, Winter started to notice something.

Both Oak and Shell didn't have their guns with them.

Blinking in surprise, Winter lifted his own weapon up, not sure who to point it at. As he looked between all of them, he finally settled on Cornelia, since he was ordered to shoot her on sight.

" _Winter,_ " Cornelia gestured. " _What are you doing?_ "

"P-protecting. A-apes," Winter grunted out. " _You betrayed us. So I must be the wall and protect our apes._ "

" _And who told you this?_ " Cornelia asked.

"Red did," Winter answered but then swallowed, as he thought to himself that maybe he shouldn't have said so.

"Winter," Oak grunted out, gaining the albino gorilla's attention. " _The queen is not your betrayer. Red is. Grey is. I am_."

" _As am I,_ " Shell stepped in as well, causing Winter to take an uneasy step backward.

" _W-what do you both mean?_ " Winter asked with a huff.

"Winter," Cornelia spoke out softly, drawing the white haired gorilla's attention. " _Lower your gun._ "

Winter uneasily look back and forth between all of the apes that were standing before him. He had imagined this moment ever since he and Red had discussed the possibility. But he had not imagined it like this, with the queen coming unarmed, being so calm. He had envisioned a fight, Cornelia and her followers trying to kill him, at least.

This right now though, didn't make much sense.

"I," Winter huffed, not noticing his hands slightly shaking. "I was. Supposed to. Shoot you. Supposed to. Keep you. Out."

" _If you shoot her. Then you shoot me too then!_ " Maple grunted as she signed at Winter, causing him to gawk at her.

" _Maple? Why are you with the queen? Your father and mother is worried for you,_ " Winter gestured hesitantly, to which the brown haired female merely snorted.

" _I'm sure they are,_ " Maple shot back.

Oak and Shell took a step forward, placing their bodies between Cornelia, Maple and Winter's gun. That was even more confusing to Winter. Oak and Shell were supposed to be on his side. Red had told him so. Why are they siding with the former queen now?

" _You will not shoot the queen, Winter,_ " Oak gestured with his teeth bared.

At this, Winter backed up another pace and shook the gun at the other gorilla.

" _No. She isn't the queen, any longer,_ " Winter gestured desperately. " _Stay back, Oak. Shell. You both are not going to confuse me._ "

" _Winter, think about what you are doing,_ " Shell gestured at the albino gorilla. " _We are not the traitors._ "

"Oak. Shell," Cornelia's voice could be heard as she stepped around the two other males, placing her hand upon each of their shoulders. " _It is okay,_ " she gestured to them.

Cornelia then turned her sights upon the timid gorilla and met Winter's vivid green eyes with her own.

"Winter. I am not. Enemy," Cornelia spoke softly. "But. if you think. I am. Then shoot. Me."

"Queen-" Both Oak and Shell grunted at the same time.

"You both. Stay there," Cornelia responded, not breaking eye contact with Winter.

Winter met his queen's gaze and he faltered, trying to understand what was going on. Slowly his posture dropped and his shoulders fell a little.

"Where. Is Luca? Where. Is Glade?" Winter asked in a almost desperate voice.

"With Caesar," Cornelia responded in kind. "With our. Warriors."

"Are they. Dead?" Winter asked next.

" _I do not know,_ " Cornelia gestured this time. " _They may be. They may not be. But Red has lied to you, Winter._ "

Cornelia then took a step towards Winter and the gorilla backed up once more, swinging his gun up, pointing it at her.

"Stop!" Winter said aloud.

Cornelia didn't even falter when Winter pointed his gun at her and she kept on walking towards him. Winter watched with wide eyes as Cornelia approached him with her hands open to her sides. Huffing, Winter closed his eyes tightly and tried to squeeze the trigger on his gun.

But he couldn't.

Cornelia touched his arm, pressing on it lightly to lower the weapon within his hand and soon Winter felt the queen reaching up to cup his face, flinching at the touch.

"Winter," Cornelia spoke up in a quiet voice. "Winter. Look at me."

After a few breaths, Winter finally opened his eyes and he could see Cornelia looking at him fondly, a gentle and warm smile upon her lips. He then felt Cornelia bring his head down and she slowly placed her forehead upon his.

"Thank you," Cornelia whispered to Winter, with her eyes closed.

Hearing those words from Cornelia, Winter had finally let go of his gun, letting it land softly onto the forest floor beneath him as his shoulders shook.

"Sorry. I-I. Sorry," Winter sobbed, tears falling from his eyes as he reached out and wrapped his arms around Cornelia, hugging her desperately.

Cornelia cooed gently at Winter and stroke the white crest of his head, like any mother would comfort her child.

After a few moments, Winter finally released Cornelia and he quickly wiped away at his eyes with the back of his arms.

"Winter?" Cornelia spoke up, causing the albino gorilla to look down at his queen. " _Where are the apes?_ " she asked.

" _Apes are a little ways behind me. That way,_ " Winter pointed towards east. " _Red told me to go a little further today on patrol, but apes are there,_ " Winter informed.

Oak huffed as he stood up on his hind legs and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the forest before meeting Winter's eyes once more.

" _Troop have not moved much at all. Should have been further away. What is going on?_ " Oak asked.

" _I do not know. We heard Grey told us to make camp to rest but he would not tell us why. Red was not happy about it and tried to talk to Grey. But Grey's decision was final,_ " Winter replied.

" _Why did my father tell the apes to slow down?_ " Maple asked curiously.

" _I do not know,_ " Winter gestured back to the brown haired female but then something seemed to crossed his mind, as if he remembered something. " _But I did see other apes speaking in private. They said that maybe Grey was waiting for you,_ " Winter signed said to Maple.

" _Waiting for me?_ " Maple gestured curiously, seeing Winter nodding.

...

When the door had first opened, both Ash and Ray thought that they might have been dreaming again. But even in their dreams, they were pretty sure that Blue Eyes and Alexander could not have been more bedraggled, soaking wet, and miserable looking, each with a set of heavy eyes.

Fox sat up in his own cage with an audible gasp at the sight of both Blue Eyes and Alexander.

Blue Eyes quickly made the sign for quiet and silently approached the cages, where the others were at. The sky eyed chimp tugged at the bars and then turn to the others. Both Ash and Ray indicated to the locks, and the need for a key to unlock them. Blue Eyes understood with a silent head nod and turned to look about himself.

" _Where is the key?_ " Blue Eyes asked.

"Blue Eyes!" Alex whispered loudly, gaining the said ape's attention.

Turning to where the humans were at, Blue Eyes could see that the teen had already woken up both Armand and another human female, whom were handcuffed to some pipes in the wall.

"There's a man in the hold," the woman spoke quickly.

"He should have the key," Armand finished.

Alex gestured for Blue Eyes to stay as he raced back to the other room and returned a moment later, with a chain of jingling keys. Alex quickly walked on over to where Armand was and with the right key, unlocked the elder man's cuffs. They then did the same to the raven haired woman. They then freed the others, starting with Ash, Ray and finally Fox.

As they opened Fox's cage, Blue Eyes regarded the older chimp warily.

" _Do not worry, Fox will help,_ " Ray gestured.

" _Will he?_ " Blue Eyes signed back, not believing Ray from what he's seen of the older chimp.

" _He will,_ " Ash vouched as well, causing a look of surprise to form on Blue Eyes' features. " _Will you?_ " Ash asked, turning to look at Fox.

" _I will,_ " Fox finally gestured back. " _Ray and I had already agreed._ "

Blue Eyes studied Fox a little longer but felt no hostility from the other chimp. Maybe he was telling them the truth.

"Come then," Blue Eyes spoke up before turning around and leading the way.

In the hold, everyone was quite surprised to see both Malcolm and Rocket standing guard. There was a few thumping sounds and everyone watched as Ash ran towards Rocket and threw his arms around him, letting out small whimpers. The bigger chimp immediately hugged his son back, cooing softly among the whimpering back though, Rocket noticed a bald spot on Ash's head, causing him to lean in and look over his child before he turned his burning eyes upon the two new humans, growling all the while.

"Wait, wait! Not them!" Malcolm quickly defended, sliding right in between Armand the other woman and Rocket, whom was baring his teeth at them.

Rocket rumbled lowly before he felt Ash touching his shoulder, causing him to turn his giant head back to his son. Ash's bright green eyed darted from his father and humans quickly before he explained what had happened to him. Once Ash was finish with his hasty explanation Rocket turned back to look at the other two humans, understanding now that they were not the ones who had hurt his son. Huffing out tiredly, Rocket finally turned his sights back to Malcolm and the others, nodding once to let them know that he now knows that the two new humans were friendlies.

"Armand," Malcolm spoke up, turning to face the older man, once everything had settled.

The older man quickly shook his head and then turned to everyone.

"The gas!" Armand said aloud. "I heard them talking, before they chained both Linda and I. They're taking the gas to the other ship, where they have the means to launch it!" he warned.

"Launch?" Blue Eyes voiced.

"Where Armand? Where are they launching it?" Malcolm asked, taking a step towards the older man.

"The bridge," the woman suddenly spoke up, causing all heads to turn towards her. "They're launching it onto the bridge. Where the fight was supposed to be."

Everyone turned their sights to the Golden Gate and could see the occasional sparks of muzzle flashes in the distance.

"That's the ship right?" Armand gestured to the object on the water. "They're going to use that thing to launch that gas up there, onto the bridge, spreading it around. It could kill all of them."

"Where is it?" Malcolm asked quickly.

"It's in the aft compartment," Armand explained. "But there isn't any easy way to offload it without being noticed. What we really need to do is take control of this ship."

"Then let's take this ship." Alexander said aloud with everyone agreeing.

As Blue Eyes, Ash, Fox, Ray, Rocket and Armand reached the upper deck, however, they found themselves staring down the barrels of several guns, wielded by Commander Messenger and two other soldiers. The ones that took the the liking of beating them back into their cages.

"Two more apes, hrm?" Messenger mused as she turned to look at both Blue Eyes and Rocket. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Drop your guns," she said so, eyeing the two new chimps.

Blue Eyes and Rocket nervously dropped their weapons, but unbeknownst to Abigail and her two guards, Malcolm, Alex, and Linda, whom they come to known had taken up the rear and were hiding.

"Where is the nurse?" Abigail asked, turning to glare at Armand.

Ray had glanced towards Blue Eyes for guidance, and realized that the prince was already tensing up his body to leap at the humans.

Fox had beat Blue Eyes to it. He sprang low and hard, colliding with the soldier's knees, lifting him up and smashing him back down onto the deck. Ray watched the other soldier take aim at Fox. He started forward, but knew that he would never make it in time.

But then Armand was suddenly there, lurching between Fox and the soldier with the gun. The gun went off with a loud bang, and Armand stumbled, wide-eyed as he grabbed at his stomach, red slowly oozing through his clothing.

Blue Eyes, Ash, and Rocket had not been idle, as well as Malcolm, Alexander who jumped out from behind. In a flurry of blows, they all sprung and took down both Messenger and the second soldier, surprised at the emergence of additional people. Malcolm and Rocket then charged into the cabin, to where the man driving the boat was and quickly knocked the man out as well.

Linda quickly knelt down besides Armand and looked him over. The older man was still alive, but he didn't look very good. His face was drained of color, and blood was still soaking through his shirt. The two then looked to the side as Fox approached and crouched down next to them.

"Why?" Fox signed to the elder human, who merely smiled sadly back at him.

"Live," Armand wheezed. "I want you to live. Forgive," he said as he turned to look at Blue Eyes and the others.

Fox blinked curiously and followed the elder human's gaze. He then slowly turned back to the human, shame written all over his face.

"Be good, please," Armand said quietly to the troubled chimp.

Malcolm and the others soon came back, all huffing and puffing after the ordeal and slowly converged to where Armand was at who glanced weakly up at them.

"He doesn't have long at this rate," Linda spoke up, turning around to look at Malcolm and the others. "There's three inflatable rafts on this thing. Follow the instructions on them."

"Put," Armand spoke up, gaining all of their attention. "Please put Messenger and the soldier in one of them. You all take the other ones."

"What about you?" Alexander asked.

"I have something to do," Armand answered weakly. He then pulled himself up, with the assistance of Linda, before making his way towards the pilot's cabin.

"Are you sure about this?" Malcolm asked, walking up towards Armand and helping him by shouldering his weight.

"This is what I should do. My last act," Armand weakly said aloud, allowing Malcolm to aid him towards the pilot's cabin.

The others watched Malcolm assist Armand behind the wheel of the boat before they all quickly set off to find the life rafts. When they inflated, all of the apes jumped back slightly at the whooshing noise, watching in aw as the yellow object took shape.

By the time the rafts were ready, the other human soldiers were beginning to come around. Malcolm and Alexander took the time to disarm them properly and forced them all onto one of the inflatable rafts at gunpoint.

"You're all making a big mistake," Messenger warned. "You have doomed the human race."

"That's not what I believe," Linda spoke up, meeting Messenger in the eyes. "What you see is doom for us humans. But what I see is the beginning of what could be peace. And I am saddened that you cannot see that."

With that final say, they pushed Messenger and the other humans' boat away from the ship, watching them as they floated away.

"Should we really had let them go?" Alexander asked curiously.

"Equal violence solves nothing," Linda spoke up as she watched Messenger, seeing the other woman reach up to wipe away at a bloody nose.

Once Messenger and her soldiers were far enough the others began to occupy the other two rafts. Blue Eyes, Ash, Alexander and Rocket occupied one of the rafts while Malcolm, Fox and Ray occupied the other; the apes, all given a life vest each. As they were getting ready to leave, they all looked upwards and noticed that Linda had stayed back, watching them.

"What are you doing? Jump in," Malcolm said to the woman, confusion etched upon his face.

Linda quickly shook her head as she turned to look up at the pilot's cabin momentarily before facing them all again.

"He's dying," he cannot do this alone," Linda spoke up. "He is going to need my help. We cannot risk the chance that he might fail."

"No. Stay-" Ash started but Linda had quickly gone in and pushed at their rafts, causing them all to drift away from the ship.

"I'm sorry for what we did to you. Please forgive us. Armand and I… We'll make things right!" the woman called out.

"No!" Ash called back but his voice fell upon deaf ears as he watched the human woman making eye contact with him and smiled.

"Goodbye," Linda whispered to the calling chimp and the others.

Before long, Linda had turned around and quickly disappeared from sight. Making her way into the pilot's cabin, Linda could see Armand, now hunched over the steering wheel of the ship and looking paler than ever.

"What are you doing? You should not be here," Armand wheezed out as Linda came into his line of sight.

"I should be here," Linda responded softly as she walked on over to where Armand was and placed a hand over his bloodied ones.

"Young lady. You will die if you stay," Armand pleaded.

Linda however, simply smiled at the older man and shook her head at him.

"The rafts are already gone," Linda answered. "I'm here to stay."

Armand then noticed a small glint within Linda's eyes and knew that whatever he was going to tell her, she was already set on her decision and would not be deterred. He breathed out a haggard breath and faltered for a moment but was caught by Linda who settled him down off to the side. Linda then stood back up and approached the steering wheel.

"The apes…" Armand said slowly, gaining Linda's attention. "They deserve... T-they deserve a chance. They deserve to live. Their time. Their ways. With and or without us."

Armand then looked up and could see Linda silently regarding him.

"You know, as a young man-a very young man-I took an oath. I pledged myself to God. I lived in poverty and contemplation, and I thought I had it all figured out. But none of this is simple. Creation isn't simple. But there is more to all of this than we see, and it is worth paying attention to others. I am so very honored to have your company Miss Linda," Armand wheezed.

"Li Hua."

"Pardon?" Armand wheezed.

"My name. My real given name. It's Li Hua. Back then, people still had trouble saying it, so, I stuck with Linda instead," Linda said softly. "I have never pledged myself to God, but I do believe that good things happen to souls who genuinely do the right things in life. Just as long as they are good and decent. Then that is all that matters."

Linda then huffed out a smile.

"You're right. Nothing, anything like this is simple. Existence is never simple. There is always conflict and those who oppose the unnatural or different. But I believe that if there is at least a sliver of a chance to make matters right. To find a common goal for peace and coexistence. For everyone to be good. Then, that is all I could hope for," Linda said quietly before turning to face Armand. "They really do deserve a chance, and I, too, am very honored to have your company Mr. Armand."

Armand couldn't help but offer the woman a warm smile from his lips.

"Li Hua. Such a beautiful name," Armand said softly.

"Thank yo-" Linda turned to thanked Armand but paused, seeing that the life had left from the older man's eyes."Farewell, Armand. And goodbye," Linda said softly, reaching up to wipe away at the blood that was now dripping from her nose.


	38. Chapter 38

**If I were to have a title for this chapter. I would have called it " _Revelation._ " Read and find out why.**

* * *

"Ajax and Thorn. Dead?" Winter asked hesitantly while walking beside both Oak and Shell.

"Yes. Both are. Dead," Oak grunted. "Gone."

Winter flinched and kept his head low but nodded sadly in acknowledgement as he lead the way. He had looked up to Ajax like an older brother of sorts, but to know that he is now gone, hurt quite a lot. He knows that Ajax's family was going to be quite devastated upon learning about his passing. As for Thorn, he hadn't personally known the chimp, but did see the ape around as well. It was difficult to ever think of losing anyone. But then again, they were losing so much now too and anything could possibly happen to all of them. But knowing that maybe Caesar, Glade, and Luca could still be alive, gave him a sense of hope.

They all finally made it to the rest of the troop, located just within the trees of the forest; beyond lay a brambled landscape of succession of forest, patiently swallowing up the old human habitations and roads there.

The females and rest of the troops were gathered together in a cluster of trees near a stream. As they saw Cornelia approaching, they all began to chatter among themselves, some calling out to her, others shrinking from her sight, afraid to confront her.

"Cornelia?" Andy called to the female but the queen simply cautioned him and the others to stay where they were at.

Nodding, Andy settled back down, seeing that there were a few apes following her, one of them being Winter. Andy couldn't help but grunt in approval at the white haired gorilla, seems as if he wasn't so hopeless at all. But he turned to look at Rex and a few of the other apes whom were now gawking at the queen. Red had then took one of the apes aside and signed something to the chimpanzee. The smaller ape nodded and quickly sped off into the distance.

Cornelia saw the midwives gathered around a bed constructed just above the ground, using fallen logs as supports. Both she and Maple approached it seeing what was going on but the labored breaths of an ape was all that was needed for Cornelia to understand.

"It is Oaka?" Cornelia asked, turning to one of the females. "Is she having her child?"

One of the females that stood by the outer circle nodded and slowly parted, making way for Cornelia to walk through. As many of the other females followed suit, Cornelia made her way, until she could finally see Oaka. The female was panting loudly, obviously in pain, hand held by her mother, but when she saw Cornelia, she tried to sit up.

"No, Oaka," Cornelia stopped the female. "This is your time," she said softly, meeting the younger female's tired face and turned to look at Lala, whom nodded in thanks.

Maple watched as Cornelia crouched down next to Oaka as one of the midwives offered the queen a veil. She watched Cornelia slip it on and began to help the other females assist Oaka in the birth. Feeling a soft touch to her arm, Maple turned her head and was met with the smiling face of her friend - Lake. Letting out a soft hoot, Maple quickly threw her arm around the other female and held onto her tightly.

" _I am sorry I left you,_ " Maple gestured as she pulled back from her friend.

" _It is quite alright. You and Tinker had to find our queen. And it looks like you both did,_ " Lake signed back before she paused and looked around. " _Where is Tinker?_ "

" _She is with baby prince,_ " Maple started.

The two females froze then when they heard a hoarse calls in the distance. Then turned when they saw Cedar arrive, wearing the crown of vines and strands upon her head.

"It is. Time. To break. Camp," Cedar said proudly "Red says. That Grey. Commands. That we. Should. begin. The day's march," she announced all around as she made her way towards the circle.

At this, the other females nervously looked about, chattering all the while as Cedar stopped near the circle, pausing to see a birth going on.

"We cannot," Cornelia spoke up, glancing in Cedar's direction, causing the other female to freeze. " _As you can see, Oaka is in labor._ " Cornelia gestured.

Cedar blinked, shock written all over her face.

"Cornelia?" Cedar breathed quietly.

"Cedar," Cornelia acknowledged.

Cedar's face instantly turned into a scowl as she approached the former queen.

" _You should not be here, Cornelia,_ " Cedar gestured with her hands sharply. " _Red says our king has called for your death._ "

" _Does Red mean Grey?_ " Cornelia asked curiously.

"Yes," Cedar said aloud as she straightened up defiantly in the presence of the former queen. " _Caesar is dead and Grey is our king now._ "

" _And you are queen,_ " Cornelia gestured back slowly, gaining a deeper frown from the other female. " _Then you should know what that means. It means that you let your mate, your husband, know that the females will not move until the birth is done. And when both mother and child are ready to move,_ " she finished simply.

Cedar's brow knitted angrily at Cornelia.

" _I need only call the guard,_ " Cedar shot back.

"Mother!"

All heads turned to the new voice and the all saw Maple slowly approaching, a stern look upon her own features.

" _Maple! Where have you-_ "

"Enough mother!" Maple instantly cut Cedar off. " _You know apes cannot go until the birth is finish. If you are truly queen then you know that it is custom that apes wait until a new mother and child is ready to move,_ " Maple signed, eyes narrowing at the older female with the crown.

Cedar frowned at Maple but looked about when the other females around her began to murmur assent. Cedar looked around, confused at the other females, all seeming to agree with Cornelia and Maple. Frustrated, Cedar then had vented out a sharp pant-hoot.

"I am queen!" Cedar announced. "I will tell them!"

"And I. Will be. Here," Cornelia answered back. "With Oaka."

"And me too," Maple voiced as well, gaining a sharp look from her own mother.

Cedar huffed at the two other females before she abruptly turned around and stalked off to find Grey and the others.

…

This was it. This was now or never as Caesar stared down the length of the bridge. The fog was beginning to thin now, and soon enough it would clear for all of them to see.

" _We stay together to the bottom,_ " Caesar gestured and spoke to the apes all around him. "T _hen we split left and right. The right follows me, the left with Luca. Our targets are the mounted guns. If we reach those, that will clear the way for the unmounted apes._ "

As he explained this though, Caesar met the faces of each and every one of the apes around him. He knew that for sure, many of them will die before they reached the guns. However, he had to be strong. Be strong for them and lead them to victory.

"Apes! Together! Strong!" he bellowed into the air.

Behind the ape king, the rest of the warriors repeated the words, some of the apes roaring and screeching into the air. They all rang out as if from a single throat, piercing the mist and echoing over the waters far below.

And they all began their charge through the mist of the fog.

...

As soon as they had hit the shore, everyone quickly got out of the rafts and raced towards each other, grouping by the sandy seaside.

"Son?" Ash could hear his father's husky voice, causing him to turn towards the older ape.

Rocket smiled and reached for Ash, placing a gentle hand upon his son's neck and bringing their foreheads together. They had been separated for so long that it was very comforting to be near each other again. Rocket had swore to himself that he would never let anything bad happen to his child ever again, as long as he lived.

Ash on the other hand was extremely happy to see his father once more. In all the days that he was separated from the group, the familiar and protective presence of his father was one of the things he missed the most. And having it here, right now, was something that he would never want to be taken away from ever again. This feeling also extended to his mother as well, wondering if she was doing alright without him and his father.

Ash however though, pulled back and turned to look at the ship, a frown upon his lips. He then felt a gentle touch upon his shoulder, causing him to turn and look at his father, whom was looking down at him worriedly.

" _Son, what is the matter?_ " Rocket asked.

" _Human female. She helped me when I was sick and hurt,_ " Ash gestured as he turned to look back at the ship. "She and human elder. All alone now," he spoke quietly.

Rocket huffed as he looked from his son to the ship that was now in the distance. He then stretched out and ape and hugged Ash close to him.

"Wait! Where's it going?" Alexander suddenly spoke aloud as he pointed towards the ship.

Everyone watched as the ship that they were on suddenly veered in one direction confusing them, heading back towards the ship that was firing at the bridge.

"I don't get it. Why is it heading to…" Malcolm started but then paused. "Oh no…"

It was then that everyone could see that whatever the other two humans were planning, they were not taking the ship out towards the sea. Instead they saw it racing towards the other ship that had the human soldiers on it. Then they all heard it.

"Apes! Together! Strong!"

…

Nearing the Golden Gate, the vehicle that both Ellie and Koba were in came down to a slow roll. They paused momentarily when they hear the unified bellows of the ape warriors that seemed to break through the air. All voices, unified and echoing as one.

The hairs on Koba's body stood up as he heard the phrase in the distance, bellowed out by his brothers. He couldn't help but feel the sense of warmth and pride blooming within his chest once more. Like the day Caesar had given him the bearskin and said those exact same words to the apes around them.

As he remembered that day, Koba's eyes grey slightly wide. He had made a promise to himself, that he would keep Caesar and the other apes safe. Do anything in order to protect them. Yet, he had forced his friends and the rest of the apes to fight with the humans. His breath caught within his throat and Koba quickly looked away in shame.

"Koba? What's the matter? You okay?" Ellie asked worriedly.

Taking deep breaths, Koba shut his eyes tightly before he nodded back at the woman, turning to meet Ellie's gaze.

"Am. Fine," Koba breathed.

They both stayed like that for a moment before Koba took in a final deep breath and straightened himself back up.

"Let's go," Koba said finally.

Ellie simply nodded at him and pressed down on the gas pedal of the vehicle, causing them to go as fast as they could through the city, making their way towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

...

One moment, they were all charging into a hail of bullets; apes and horses were stumbling and falling all around them. Then the next moment Caesar noticed that the humans had turned around and was firing off into the forest, which confused him. Curiously he had noticed that a few of the humans falling down, like they had been shot from behind. All of a sudden an area of the north end of the bridge erupted in fire, close to the humans, causing them to scatter.

"Naglfar, this is the USS Daedalus. You're coming in too hot. Take it down," came a rather loud voice.

Caesar wasn't sure what that meant but he and the other apes around him heard the noise coming from the ship that was firing at them from the sea below. Then to their surprise they all saw another ship, this one smaller but it was heading towards the giant one at an alarming speed.

"Naglfar. Change course or prepare to be fired upon," the loud voice rang out again.

As Caesar and the rest of the apes could see. Smoke started to emerge from the smaller ship as reports could be heard from the bigger ship. And then suddenly it was engulfed in flame and smoke. While making their way across the bridge though, Caesar and the others spared a glance at the sea below, only to be surprised as they saw the ship that was fired upon, emerging from the cloud of smoke and fire blazing on its deck, but still running strong. It kept its course and slammed into the hull of the larger ship. The sound, a moment later was horrific to hear.

As they all had paused a moment to watch the scene unfold beneath them, Caesar and Luca looked at one another, not understanding what had just happened. But then they turned their heads as the human soldiers were all suddenly fleeing and gesturing out to the burning wreckage on top of the sea.

Whatever it was though, had the humans running for their lives and Caesar was not going to wait and find out what it was. The way was clear and it was their chance. He had let out another loud bellow and ordered his warriors to charge forward.

"Into the forest!" Caesar shouted to his warriors. "No stopping! No Slowing!"

And in a matter of minutes, the survivors were all back within the safe confines of the trees, where they all belonged, leaving many of their fallen behind them.

Unbeknownst to Caesar and his army though, there was a vehicle that was charging through from the bridge behind them, making its way towards the forest as well.

…

As soon as he was notified by the chimp warriors that Rex had sent, Red had raced back to the troops as fast as his limbs would carry him. Soon enough, he finally found the conglomerate of apes near the section of the woods as he skid to a halt.

Red then started towards where the females were camped but stopped short when he realized a birth was going on. Frowning he looked about and saw that Rex and the other guards were standing nearby and made his way on over towards the other gorilla.

" _What is going on?_ " Red asked.

" _It's Cornelia. She's back,_ " Rex informed.

" _Cornelia?! Why was she not taken care of?_ " Red gestured angrily.

Rex flinched at Red's outburst but he simply pointed ahead. Huffing, Red followed Rex's finger and could see Grey was standing a few feet away from the females, shoulders rising and falling as if he had been swinging through the trees all day.

" _He just got back from somewhere. Did not say where. But he spoke with Cedar and he told us to stand by,_ " Rex informed.

Growling, Red stomped pass Rex and made his way on over to where Grey was standing.

"Grey! Cornelia she-" Red began.

"I know," Grey cut the rusted haired gorilla off with a grunt before switching to his hands. " _Cedar already told me. She is with Oaka and her mother. With the other females,_ " he explained simply, still breathing deeply, as if catching his breath.

Red turned his head from Grey and to the group of females that were in the cluster.

"I will. Go. Get her," Red grunted.

"You will not," Grey grunted, turning to look at Red. " _Not when there is a birth going on. It will be breaking our customs._ "

Red snorted at the browned haired chimp.

"Then I will break. Custom," Red seethed lowly as he unlimbered his rifle and started towards the females.

…

Juno and the others watched helplessly as they heard Oaka's pained cries as she was in the midst of her labor. To his surprise though he and the other's turned their heads up when they saw Winter and Shell approaching. Curious, Juno watched as Andy tensed and turned to face the other young chimp and albino gorilla.

"What. You both. Doing?" Andy hissed at Shell and Winter.

To Andy and the other ape's surprise though, both Winter and Shell put a finger towards their lip to tell them to be quiet. Then Winter turned around and blocked Shell's form from the other gorilla guards as Shell quickly bent down and took out a stone knife.

At first Juno gasped and backed away, thinking that Shell was going to harm them or something but then the younger chimp was beginning to cut away at the heavy ropes that bound the warriors arms and legs.

"What doing?" Andy asked in surprise this time, with Jeanpierre and the others watching on.

" _Quiet! We were told to help,_ " Shell paused momentarily to sign before quickly going back to work.

"Told? By who?" Juno asked causing Shell and Winter to glance at each other for a moment before meeting everyone's gaze once more.

…

Several of the females looked up as Red arrived with his gun. He pushed his way through the first few females, until he saw Cornelia crouching next to Oaka and her mother.

"Cornelia!" Red grunted, and gestured with the gun.

" _You will wait,_ " Cornelia signed back to Red, not even turning to look at him. " _When the birth is over, I will come with you._ "

She then proceeded to help assist Oaka, who renewed her push once more.

"Cornelia!" Red shouted at the former queen. "You come! Now!"

But she ignored him.

That angered Red more than anything Cornelia could have said. Snarling, he cocked the weapon of his rifle.

But before he could point it, Oak had suddenly stepped in front of him.

"Stop, Red," the other gorilla said.

"Move, Oak," Red growled at the other gorilla. "Or I shoot."

But even as he said it, Coral one of the gorilla females, and Ajax's younger sister, pushed her way through to join Oak. Then all of the other females stood, and moved to block his sight of Cornelia, Oaka, Lala and the other midwives that were helping.

"Move, all of you!" Red bellowed in anger. "I will shoot you!"

As Red met their eyes, he then noticed one of the females pushing her way through all of them to the front. He recognized Cedar, wearing the queen's crown upon her head.

" _Cedar, you are queen now. Tell them to move,_ " Red signed to the female chimp.

"I am," Cedar spoke as she turned to look at her fellow apes. " _And I tell you, Red, to move back,_ " she gestured to the red haired gorilla.

At this, Red couldn't take it anymore. He growled and slapped Cedar with the back of his hand. Cedar stumbled back, yelping in agony, as her hands rose to her face and cover it. Red could see blood on Cedar's teeth. To his surprise though, Red noticed Maple quickly rushing to her mother's side as a few of the females had caught Cedar as she was struck. Red watched as the brown haired female reached for her mother before she turned her defiant eyes upon him and like her the rest of the females stood firm, some even taking a step forward towards him.

Tired of this charade, Red raised his gun at the females.

Then someone struck him from behind.

Before Red knew it, he had lost his gun and went sprawling onto the ground. Shaking his head, Red slowly came up onto all fours and found himself face Grey, was was now standing at his full height, glaring down at him.

"Grey!" Red snarled furiously.

Grey merely glared back, keeping his stern frown and met Red with his dark green eyes. With a bellowing roar, Red then charged at the brown haired chimp.

Red was head-and-shoulders taller than Grey, and weighed as much as two chimpanzee warriors. But Grey was faster. He had let Red commit to the charge, then dodged to the side, boxing the rusted haired gorilla in the ear and then grabbing onto his pelt and swinging up onto his back. There he wrapped both of his arms around Red's massive neck, braced his feet upon the gorilla's back and pulled as hard as he could. He felt Red's muscles ripple beneath him as he tried to hold on, and for a moment it seemed possible. Red staggered forward, then turned and slammed his back-and Grey-into a tree. Grey felt the wind knocked from his lungs and the world spun around him but he hung on, grimly, but when Red repeated the tactic a second time, his arms finally loosened and he fell off from the heavy blow.

Red turned quickly and slammed his fists down at him but Grey managed to roll away from the attack, dancing back from the maddened gorilla.

Both panting now, Red came at Grey once more, a little more cautiously this time.

"Why do this?" Red growled. " _Caesar will never forgive you now. You have betrayed him twice. Our only hope is to work together,_ " he gestured angrily.

"I know! Caesar! Will not! Forgive me!" Grey shot back, causing Red to pause momentarily in confusion. " _What I did. What I had to do. To protect all of the apes! To protect them! From you! And other apes, who betrayed! I will be traitor!_ " Grey huffed angrily while he signed with his hands.

At this, Red, as well as the other ape guards, warriors, females and elders, stared at Grey confusingly, not understanding what he was saying.

As Red thought about it, something dawned on him. The way Grey had moved the troops at a slow pace, kept the prisoners alive, not wanting them to be killed. The way he didn't care too much that Cornelia had escaped. The reason Grey had been disappearing recently.

As both Grey and Red had their stare down, the brown haired chimp closed his eyes momentarily as memories came rushing back to him.

Grey remembered the day, right after the battle atop of the human tower. He had seeked forgiveness from Caesar, his leader. The forgiveness was hesitant, but it was given nonetheless and Grey was humbled. Promising to never go against Caesar ever again, doing what he could to help the other chimpanzee.

Grey's promise had faltered though, when he had seen Caesar let the humans go with Red's words of doubt seeping into him, about their leader's mistrust in him. It was painful, of course, to hear such things, it hurt much more to even experience the distrust from Caesar himself. But Grey understood that it must be so. He did in fact, hid terrible things from his leader when he was with Koba, Stone and Pope… Yet, Caesar had still found it within himself to forgive Grey for what he's done. So, he carried on.

The way Caesar did things, questionable things, to promote peace and coexistence with humans. Yet their leader tried, to stop a war from happening between two species. Grey was terrified to learn what many of his brothers did to the humans who had no way of fighting, remembering it as clear as day, when Pope had killed that mother and child, back in the human city. That could have definitely have been his Cedar and Maple. Was that what they were truly becoming? Something that beyond an ape? Something akin to that of human nature? It was then, Grey knew, what he needed to do in order to help Caesar and the rest of the apes that sided with chimpanzee leader.

Grey himself would need to play the part of the traitorous leader.

Not long after, Grey had learned that there were many apes that was against Caesar's rule, meeting with him upon the rooftops of the human buildings. It was there, Red had announced to the turncoat apes that Grey himself would be their new leader. All accepting the brown haired chimpanzee for his role with Koba, just days earlier. It was… Astonishing to say the least. To be a leader of the apes. Yet, Grey himself knew it was wrong for him to do so. But if it would mean that it would keep his family, Caesar and the rest of the apes safe. Then he'll gladly be a leader for these ape traitors. Keep them in check, for as long as he can.

It was then he listened and learned of Red's folly plan. It was simple, effective, but there were many flaws within it that Grey himself could use to slow the turncoats down. He had informed Red of the females and that they would cause a problem. To which the rusted haired gorilla merely waved off as an afterthought. Never seeing the many mistakes that could fall through for the traitor apes. So, Grey had let it go.

There was times when Grey had doubted himself of ever taking on such a dangerous task by himself. Not able to speak about it with anyone. Not with Koba, nor Stone, both dead. And especially not with his family, that was the most difficult of all. Cedar had noticed his strange behavior and had confronted him many a times while they were still in the human city. Oh how much he had wanted to tell Cedar of what he was doing. How much he wanted to fall into her arms, close his eyes and believe that everything was just a bad dream. But he couldn't, for Cedar's and Maple's sake. But Cedar was relentless, never the one to give up unless he told her the truth, so he did what was best and distracted her, that evening. They coupled and Grey himself had felt much better the very next morning, but knew that danger still lurked close by.

It was the day after that Grey had learned of what Red had done behind his back. The idiotic gorilla had lead the human's weapon close to where the females and children were at, along with the elders and wounded too. Grey himself had been infuriated by Red and had reprimanded the gorilla, who didn't seem to care that much about the safety of their apes but instead only wanted to leave. Red got his wish though. With that surprise attack by the humans, Caesar had ordered that the females, young, elder, wounded, and ones unable to fight, be sent back to the safety of the forest. It was now, where the females and ones that couldn't fight, were now vulnerable to the turncoat apes and Grey himself feared of what may happen.

During the midst of the fighting, Grey had to abandoned Caesar and the others. Knowing well that the moment he leaves, there will be no turning back for him, ever. But still, he had to do this, to be the ones to keep the rest of the troops safe from the traitor apes until Caesar and the others could come rescue them.

And keep the troops safe, he did.

When Grey had returned to the forest he had encountered an escaping Cornelia, confused as to what she was running away from. He he gestured to her but then she turned around and fled from him. It was then he noticed that the queen was being chased by Red and a few of the other apes. Grey had put an immediate stop of the chase and had later learned that Cornelia had severely injured Pongo. Deep down though, Grey was glad that Cornelia was able to get away from them, hoping that she had found a safe area to hide out until it was safe.

It was inevitable but Grey had to watch as his brothers fought among themselves, the traitor apes taking control, killing Ursus, and scattered what was left of the noble warriors and guards into the winds. Instead of killing the "traitors" as Red had suggested, Grey immediately denied that. He needed to find a way to keep the apes from having any more bloodshed. So he opted that the prisoner apes be used as pack mules instead. At this, Red and the other turncoats did not object to this idea, actually finding the idea to be quite useful for them. So, they turned the rest of the guards and warriors into slaves, at best, to carry their equipment.

The looks Grey had received from Andy and the others had sent chills down his back, but he knew that it didn't matter of what they thought of him. They could hate him all they want, but as long as they were safe, he was fine with it.

When Grey had crowned both Cedar and Maple to keep them safe among the apes; Cedar had accepted her new role as queen, as if she had been waiting for it, Maple on the other hand. Grey was extremely shocked to have seen the younger female's outburst of not wanting to be princess. It had hurt him that she had destroyed the crown of flowers that he had made for her, but deep down he was very happy that Maple was able to recognize that the whole situation was wrong as well. But, like before, he had to put on a stern face and ordered the troops to march on.

Worried would have been an understatement for Grey when he had learned that Maple had disappeared from the troop that evening. He was completely and utterly terrified of what had happened to her. Grey himself had seen many of the females discussing with each other that Tinker had disappeared as well and he had hoped that maybe, the two had gone off to find Cornelia. He desperately hoped it so, but at the same time he also had to keep the rest of the apes safe.

Grey himself had often snuck away from the troop when everyone else was busy and safe for the time being, to go back to the human bridge and see how Caesar and the rest of the warriors were doing. His heart clenched from the devastation that was going on between both side. Both neither budging from each other, fighting as hard as they could to keep the other from advancing. Grey had hoped on several occasions that Caesar and the others would charge through, but they never committed. Eventually though, Grey had to go back and keep an eye on the females and maybe, hopefully see that his little Maple Tree has returned home.

Eventually it was time, when Caesar and the other apes had finally made their way across the bridge and Grey watched as they made their charge. He watched as many of his brother fell to the foul weapons that were directed at them. In his anger, Grey had done his part too, in order to help Caesar and the rest of the warriors. Grey had unstrapped a rifle from his back and began to unload all of the bullets form it, down at the humans that stood by the north end of the bridge. In their confusion, Grey could see the human soldiers looking about, to see where the attack was going on. Grey was lucky enough to hit something of the human soldiers and that caused an explosion to occur. He had then quickly ducked behind the trees when many of the human soldiers took notice of him and fired in his direction. Thankfully he was saved by a loud human voice that seemed to be coming down from below the bridge, on the sea. Grey didn't stick around to see what it was though, in that brief moment, he had taken the chance to head back into the forest, hoping that he had maybe helped Caesar and the other warriors break through the human barricade.

When Grey had finally gotten back to the troops, he was severely out of breath. Many of the apes around tried to see what was wrong with him but he merely pushed them away, noticing that there was a group of females. Grey was surprised to see his mate - Cedar, looking ever so livid, as if something had bothered her terribly. Before he could ask her of the problem, Cedar had burst in with wild hand movements. All Grey caught, was that Cornelia had returned, something about helping with birth and Maple's name. With a huff, Grey had immediately walked past Cedar and made his way quickly on over to where the females were.

As Grey approached, he noticed Cornelia helping several of the other midwives with Oaka's birth. Both Cornelia and Grey made eye contact briefly, Grey nodding, allowing her to proceed with assisting the birth, which in turned had angered Cedar even more so. Grey immediately regarded the frantic Cedar with a bark, instantly silencing her. Blinking, Grey then turned his gaze back to where Cornelia was and then his eyes traveled to where his little Maple Tree was standing, staring at both him and Cedar. Seeing her well, relieved his heart greatly and he made to approach the younger female but Maple took a step back from him, a frown still set upon her lips. With a huff, Grey nodded to himself and moved away from his daughter, allowing her some room.

It was a little later when Red came back, demanding Grey to stop Cornelia. Grey, annoyed with Red, informed the bigger ape of their customs and that it must not be broken. Red however, had other plans and was going to force Cornelia to his whims. When the red haired gorilla had stomped away, Grey had looked around and found both Shell and Winter standing off to the side. He had heard that these two had came in with Cornelia, so they were his best bet. He approached the two younger males and simply handed a stone knife to Shell, both the younger apes looking at Grey in confusion.

" _Free the prisoners,_ " Grey signed to them both.

Shell and Winter glanced at one another curiously before meeting Grey's gaze again, unsure of what he had just told them.

" _Free prisoners?_ " Winter had asked.

" _Yes, go now. Do it when apes are not looking at you two,_ " Grey gestured quickly before he shoved both Shell and Winter away from the group.

After a few moments, Grey then heard the distinct cries of his mate, prompting him to turn around and look for Cedar. There in the distance, near the cluster of females, Grey could see Red towering over Cedar and Maple, as the rest of the females. With a feral growl, Grey then charged up from behind Red and struck the bigger gorilla.

As the memory faded from his mind, Grey opened back up his eyes and he met Red's glaring acid colored hues once more.

" _You did this on purpose. Lied to us. Why?_ " Red asked.

" _As I said, I did this to protect the apes,_ " Grey gestured back with his teeth bared.

"We! Protect! Apes!" Red roared out angrily.

"Your way! Wrong!" Grey bellowed back. "Apes die! Because of you! It over! Apes no longer follow you! No longer follow me! We lost."

"No!" Red howled.

It was at that moment that Grey had realized he'd let Red get in too close; Red leapt into the air, flailing down at his head with his gigantic arms. Seeing this, Grey did the only thing he could think of, he ran straight into Red's attack, putting his shoulder beneath the larger gorilla as he was off the ground and pushed with all of his might as he heaved the giant ape over him. Red landed heavily onto the ground behind Grey and he quickly took the opportunity to scramble onto the gorilla's back once more, renewing his choke hold.

Red fought to get back up, and finally managed to get onto all fours, even as Grey was cutting off his air supply. He attempted to stand and slam Grey into a tree once more, but by this time he was already too weak from the lack of air. Red felt Grey tightening his hold further around his neck, feeling the brown haired chimpanzee using both his arms and legs.

In a matter of seconds, Red collapsed onto the ground, eyes slightly rolling back. Grey held onto Red for a few more moment, until he was sure that he had pacified the other ape, and then released the gorilla beneath him.

Grey then climbed, breathless onto his feet.

"No one!" Grey panted aloud, turning to face all the apes around him. "Is to harm. Cornelia."

With that said, Grey took a few steps and leaned heavily against a tree, hurting in every joint of his body. He had just won the fight of his life, and now the apes would be safe. Now he awaited for the ape's true leader to return and would accept any punishment Caesar will give him.

Huffing, Grey glanced back up and met Cedar and Maple's faces; one looked of confusion the other looked of wonder and pride. Grey couldn't help but meet Maple's smile, seeing the mirth return within her eyes.

"Grey?"

His breath catching in his throat, Grey turned at Red's voice, but he wasn't fully facing him when the gun chattered and the bullets struck him. Everything seemed to go white the moment he was stuck by the bullets, an ear piercing ring echoing within his ears, along with the cries of many of the apes screams too. The next thing Grey understood of what was going on around him, he noticed that he was now sitting on the ground, with a few bullet holes marring his abdomen. Gasping in shock, Grey had tried to get back up again but stopped as Red came to stand right in front of him. Huffing, Grey lifted his head and looked up at Red's snarling features, the gun pointed straight at his face.

* * *

 **So what did you all think of Grey?**


	39. Chapter 39

**Sorry everyone! Been a bit busy. Hope you all enjoy this latest chapter. Also apologies! This chapter is a bit sporadic and kind of all over the place. But, please enjoy it nonetheless!**

* * *

Now was the moment at hand as Red and Grey stared at the other. One was full of intense hatred, rage and disappointment, while the other was filled with fear and pain, but was full of a fierce determination as well.

"We. Would have. Been safe," Red hissed out. "If you. Had followed. My plan."

Grey grunted as he twitched in on himself in pain but slowly raised his head up to meet Red's acid colored eyes again with his own dark green ones, earning a scowl from the bigger gorilla.

"No. We would not," Grey wheezed back as he wrapped one arm over his bleeding abdomen. "Not. With you. Not. With. Me," he finished with a content smile.

Even now, with the advantage within his grasp, Grey still mocked him and this angered Red even more. All that he's worked so hard for, to get them as far away from the humans to lead the apes away from Caesar's control; now ruined by an ape that Red himself thought he could use. It angered him greatly as he thought of this while his shoulders rose and fell with each heavy breath he took. This, all of this, was Grey's fault and he will pay for it, with his life.

The moment he pulled the trigger to his gun, Red was surprised when something struck his arm. The notion caused him to jerk his arm as he fired, striking Grey in the left ear, causing the chimpanzee to yelp in pain. Red had then let out a roar of pain as he lifted up his arm and slammed them onto the ground, knocking the offending creature off of him. He drew back his hand and stared down at it, seeing teeth marks made within his flesh before he turned back with wild eyes to see who had attacked him.

To everyone's surprise, they all saw Maple slowly standing up, huffing to herself as she cradled her arms close to her body, her mouth red with blood. Red glared down at his forearm and then glanced back again at Maple who was now frowning at him.

"You. Hurt. Me," Red growled lowly as he took a step towards Maple.

Seeing Red approaching his daughter, Grey tried to get back up but faltered as pain lanced through his midsection, causing him to grunt and sit back down. But before Red could take a second step, he heard a furious cry as someone jumped onto his back and was striking at the back of his head. He grunted and tossed the offending ape off of him, surprised to see Cedar rolling onto the ground. Before he could comprehend what was going on around him, he was suddenly surrounded by many of the females. He felt two sets of hands wrenching his gun away from him, then he was being pummeled down by the many fists that was railing on him. He was so shocked by this turn of events that Red merely shielded his face from the blows as he crouched for cover as the assault continued by the angry screaming females.

After what seemed like a long amount of time, Red managed to scramble free, backing away quickly from the mob of females, but they followed him. They threw clods of dirt, sticks, rocks, and anything else they could get their hands on at him.

Red felt all of his anger quickly dashed away, all of his bravado, suddenly replaced by shame and fear for his life as he was chased. It felt as if the very earth beneath him seemed to be falling out from under his feet and sky above his head as he ran.

He didn't get too far as he was suddenly struck by the side and was now rolling in the dirt. Getting back up quickly, Red blinked as he saw Andy baring his fang and lunged out with an enclosed fist, striking him in the side of the head. This had caused Red to bared his teeth and roared back at the chimp, striking the other ape with the back of his left arm and sending Andy rolling into the forest floor. He was going to go after the other male but halted when he noticed that many of their prisoners were free now. He had quickly turned to dash away but paused when he heard the familiar cries of several apes in the distance.

The ape warriors from the human city. They survived.

Now Red's heart really pounded within his chest and he quickly turned back around, making a run for the only other opening that was available to him. From behind Red could hear the continued cries, calls and screams of apes. As he ran though, something welled up from within him that caused his hairs to stand on end.

" _From here on out. There is no turning back for us,_ " Grey's hand gestures came back into Red's mind over and over again as he ran for his life.

And that was what Red had done, he ran. He ran and ran, into the forest and did not stop, knowing well that he was now branded as a traitor among apes.

…

The birth was a difficult one, but Oaka and her child survived during the whole fight that had occured not too far from them. Oaka had given birth to a very strong looking boy and both she and her mother had never looked happier when they heard the infants cries that pierced the air around them. Cornelia herself, couldn't help but smile along with both Oaka and Lala, watching as the young female cradled her son into her bosom, cooing softly to hush his frantic cries.

"A very strong boy," Cornelia spoke up, causing both the new mother and Lala to glance up her way.

"Yes. Very. Strong boy," Lala wept happily.

"Strong. Like his father. Bryn," Pauleen spoke up as well as she knelt down besides Oaka and Lala, smiling at the two females.

Before long Cornelia and the other females heard the arrival of the rest of warriors as well. Soon enough they were suddenly joined by Khan and his sons. From among them stood Bryn, eyes wide as he looked down at his new child that was cradled within his mate's arms.

"Bryn. Come say hello. To your son," Oaka spoke softly as she met her mate's big curious eyes.

Bryn huffed as he tentatively took a step towards the nest and slowly knelt down next to his family. Bryn then curiously reached out and felt the small chimpanzee wrap his little hand around his much larger finger.

"M-my son," Bryn breathed as his face slowly melted into that of happiness. "Our son," he said happily as he slowly pressed his forehead onto Oaka's.

"Kanj."

Bryn pulled back when he heard Oaka say the word, a look of confusion on his face.

"Our son's. Name. Kanj," Oaka said lovingly as she nuzzled the top of her child's head.

"Kanj. Our Kanj," Bryn repeated the name proudly as he too lowered his head and pressed it upon Oaka's.

Pulling back, Bryn proudly turned to look at the apes around them.

" _Come. Come and see. Come see my new son Kanj,_ " Bryn gestured happily to his family members.

Khan came next to his second oldest son and looked down at the newest member as well, smiling proudly at Bryn. Juno on the other hand couldn't stop himself from grinning widely as he tentatively reached out and stroke the small ape's back. Tola however, stood to the side and was looking down at the baby ape but he had a curious glint within his cerulean eyes.

Watching the family together, Cornelia respectfully backed away from them so that they could have their moment of peace and warmth. This was their time and she needn't be there to disrupt such a serene scene. Turning around she then noticed that many of their warriors were returning to the rest of their families and or loved ones. Some she knew would never return and it pained her but this was how it is now and they must moved on. Taking in a deep breath, Cornelia walked through the rest of the apes, hoping that she would be able to find Caesar from among them.

...

Many of the ape traitors had scattered when they took notice of the returning warriors from the city, fleeing for their lives. Many others were quickly subdued and the turncoats immediately offered themselves in submission. Caesar and the rest of the warriors that were betrayed, were beyond angry at this point. Knowing that these apes, these turncoats had abandoned them and left them to die, in their time of need.

" _Please forgive us Caesar,_ " Rex grovelled with his head lowered, along with a few of the other apes. " _Show mercy?_ "

"Mercy? For what you and the other apes have done?" Caesar growled back, causing Rex and the other turncoats to flinch at his harsh words.

Caesar merely kept his angry gaze directed upon Rex as gorilla offered his palm up in supplication. Caesar however grunted and moved on, he didn't have time for the traitors right now, he had to check in on the rest of the apes and see if they were all safe.

"Keep your eyes on them," Caesar spoke to Luca, never letting his own gaze stray from the traitors as the silverback and a few of the other apes grunted in response.

As Caesar turned around he frozed as his eyes landed upon a familiar looking female who stood just feet away from him. Cornelia held her breath as she kept her eyes upon Caesar and tentatively took a step towards him.

" _Caesar?_ " Cornelia gestured.

"Cornelia," Caesar breathed back with a tired smile.

The female chimpanzee quickly closed the gap between the both of them and reached out towards the bigger male. Cornelia touched the shooting star birthmark upon Caesar's chest, looking at it before she turned her gaze up to meet his golden-green eyes. Huffing with a smile, Cornelia placed her head upon Caesar's chest and wrapped her arms around him, also feeling him hugging her back strongly.

Before long, the both of them pulled back from each other to place their foreheads together, standing there, drinking in each other's presence. Cornelia then did something unexpected that surprised Caesar. She had reached up and gave Caesar a light kiss upon the lips. Caesar blinked curiously at his mate before he smiled back and returned the kiss, more strongly this time.

"I thought. I lost. You," Cornelia spoke quietly, reaching up to wipe away at her teary eyes.

"Sorry. Took so long," Caesar responded in kind. "Where is Cornelius?" he had asked next.

"He is. Safe. With Tinker," Cornelia answered.

Caesar felt his heart at ease when he learned of this from Cornelia and looked about when he took notice of a group of apes surrounding a few others. Curiously both Caesar and Cornelia approached the group and saw that it was Maurice with Andy and the others, looking upon Grey and his family.

"Grey!" Caesar snarled, making to move forward but was stopped by a firm grip upon his wrist.

Caesar snapped his head around quickly to see who had stopped him but was surprised to see Cornelia looking up at him with her light green hues. There was a fierce determination set within her eyes as she met Caesar's own golden-greens. Confused as to why she was holding onto him like this, Caesar slightly turned his body back around to face his mate.

" _Cornelia?_ " Caesar asked.

" _No Caesar, I know what you are thinking, but do not jump to conclusions so quick,_ " Cornelia gestured back. " _You think that Grey has betrayed you. Left you. Like the others. However, Grey did the opposite. Grey. He protected us. All of us. Saved our lives,_ " Cornelia explained after a few heartbeats.

"What?" Caesar asked, not understanding what Cornelia was telling him.

"He. Saved me. Saved us," Cornelia spoke this time. "All of us. Here," she continued, gesturing around them, gaining nods from every face they saw. "He fought. To protect us. From true traitors."

Caesar blinked and turned his head back to where Grey was, before turning back to look at Cornelia once more.

" _Are you sure?_ " Caesar asked.

"Cornelia. Speaks truth," Andy grunted, walking on over to where Caesar was. " _I do not understand it myself but Grey protect us all,_ " Andy explained, turning to look at the wounded chimpanzee.

Caesar looked from Andy to Cornelia and to the others around them before finally turned his gaze to where Grey was. The brown haired chimpanzee was breathing hard and was bleeding but he still looked strong as he kept one arm wrapped tightly around his midsection. Grey met his gaze and the both of them simply stared at the other.

"Caesar," Grey grunted out, shoulders rising and falling with each labored breath he took.

Caesar blinked and stood there for a moment as his thoughts raced through is head. Had Grey really protected the apes throughout all of this? Why? Why would he do such a thing? Hadn't the traitor left him and the rest of the warriors to fend for themselves in the human city? It didn't make any sense to him. Yet, Cornelia, Andy and many of the other apes, they are all advocating for Grey.

He had protected them.

Breathing deeply through his nose, Caesar took a step towards Grey and knelt down next to the wounded chimp, looking him over and meeting his dark green eyes. Caesar noticed that Grey's mate and daughter, hold onto each other as they met his stern gaze. However, he slowly turned his sights back towards Grey and met the brown haired chimpanzee's dark green eyes.

"P-please. Spare them," Grey painfully huffed out. "M-my fault-"

Grey was silenced as Caesar held up his hand.

"Don't speak, save your strength," Caesar spoke to the wounded chimp.

And with that said Caesar and the others noticed the sound of an approaching vehicle. There were hoots and cries that echoed through the forest but they were quickly silenced as every warrior, guard and abled ape stood at the edge of the grove, preparing themselves for a fight if necessary. Then they all saw it, the approaching vehicle that hid the inhabitants within. The apes all hooted and grunted in anticipation of what's to come and Caesar made to stand at the forefront of his apes, staring down angrily at the truck.

…

When the other apes had returned to them, Winter was ecstatic to see Caesar and most of all - Luca again. It was as if seeing the rest of the their warriors back had brought a renewal of hope for the apes and just like that, it did. Caesar, Luca and the rest of the warriors were able to immediately subdue the turncoats, the rest feeling for their lives and everyone rejoiced as they found each other again. All crying and hooting in joy as they embraced one another. He could especially make out the joyful expression of his new friend Juno from afar as he celebrated with his family at the new life that was brought into the world.

Aside from all of this however, Winter knew that many others had downcast looks upon their faces as well. Knowing well that many of their loved ones will never come back to them too and this pained his soul. On that thought, Winter huffed worriedly as he looked around himself to hopefully see a particular ape that was not among the many he had seen. As he desperately looked around himself he couldn't find the individual, no matter how hard he searched.

Winter's breathing and heart beats began to quicken as he became more and more desperate in his search. Eventually he came to a stop as he didn't see the ape that he was searching for. As he stood there among the cries and hoots, Winter lowered his head as his nose twitched several times. Was this meant to be? Was he supposed to be all alone? With a sniff, Winter rubbed at his eyes with the back of his arm as he could feel the oncoming feeling of loneliness taking him once more. This wasn't fair. This was not fair. He's already lost so much before, losing his parents, his brother figure and although he had initially thought he had lost Luca, the older gorilla returned to him but now he… he was all alone again. And it hurt him deeply, a pain that he couldn't quite explain.

Two soft hoots echoed from behind.

With a gasp, Winter slowly rounded himself and was met with familiar looking bonobo, with lime colored eyes and whose dark fur on his back side parted like the trail in a grassy field. The smaller ape was leaning heavily on a spear and Winter noticed that the bonobo's left thigh was wrapped in a makeshift cloth, like the humans had showed them.

"Glade?" Winter said slowly, his eyes wide and puffy.

"Winter," Glade responded, offering a tired looking smile.

Winter fully turned around fully to face the bonobo and cautiously made his way to the smaller ape, stopping right in front of the other. The albino gorilla reached out but stopped, seeing the wound on the smaller ape's leg, hesitating. The bonobo seemed to have picked up on this and he couldn't help but let a amused huff escape him. Letting go of the spear that he was leaning on, the smaller ape reached up and cupped the gorilla's cheeks, bringing Winter's head down so that their foreheads touched each others. Both closing their eyes as they soaked in each other's presence.

"Glade?" Winter huffed out breathlessly.

"Winter," Glade responded with a smile.

And with that, Glade felt Winter fall down onto his knees as he threw his arms around him. Glade couldn't help but smile warmly as he heard the bigger gorilla whimper and cry, while big arms were wrapped tightly around his body. Chuckling softly, Glade returned the hug and gently patted the weeping gorilla on the head, cooing softly in reassurance.

"So scared. Was so scared," Winter whimpered out as he closed his eyes tightly, and hugged Glade closer to him, not caring if and or the other apes around were staring at the both of them.

"Glade knows," Glade spoke softly while he gently rubbed Winter's back, "Glade knows. Winter. Safe now."

As Glade himself was reassuring Winter the sounds of the apes letting out a warning cr, caused him to look up and see an approaching vehicle.

...

The apes stood strong as the vehicle came to a slow stop, with the engines to the truck dying. The doors then opened and out stepped two figures that caused many of the apes to break out in hushed whispers, grunts, hoots and cries. The two figures were that of a familiar human woman, who had came to the colony once before, curing the queen of her strange illness. The other however… The apes were all equally confused, not believing of who and what they were seeing.

"Koba?" Andy spoke aloud, his eyes wide.

The bonobo turned to look at the chimp when the name was spoken aloud. This only signified to the apes that the bonobo standing before them all was exactly who they thought it was. He looked thinner than usual, with a bit more scars covering his body but that singular scar that ran down his left eye was all that was needed for the apes to recognize who it genuinely was. The only difference that perplexed them was that singular golden-green eye that Koba sported now, looking quite a lot like Caesar's.

Caesar was quite confused by Koba's new eye color as well but he took a step towards the bonobo and looked him over. Aside from his loss in weight, Koba seemed to be doing rather well. Looking a lot better actually, as when Caesar had last remembered him, he was in a terrible state. A condition that he himself could have prevented, yet he was unable to.

"Caesar?" Koba breathed quietly, meeting Caesar's intense gaze.

"Koba," Caesar answered back.

While the two stood there, the apes around them began to chatter among themselves, speaking to one another. They were all noting how these two apes, two formidable leaders in their own right, whom they all thought were dead before, was now standing before them. Having survived their very own supposed deaths.

A few heartbeats more, Caesar blinked and his gaze looked past Koba to see Ellie standing by the truck. At first he was confused to only see both Koba and Ellie but He then remembered that Grey was still very much still injured from his fight before.

"We need your. Help," Caesar spoke.

Nothing more needed to be said and the human nurse simply nodded.

"Let me get my things," Ellie responded as she quickly ran to the back end of the truck, before opening it and rummaging through.

"Who?" Koba asked, meeting Caesar's gaze.

"Grey," Caesar answered after a brief silence, noticing the hairs on Koba's body rising up at the mention of the wounded chimp's name.

...

As he sat there, Grey hissed as his abdomen seared with pain. It was something he's never quite felt before but if this is what it took, to keep his family and the rest of the apes safe, then he would bear it all. Even if it will kill him. Which is very high he would assume. Huffing, Grey leaned his head back onto the tree behind him and was met with teary eyes from both Cedar and Maple, both who were placing their hands upon his arms and trying their best to comfort him. He could feel the love and care that Cedar was giving him as she picked out at the leaves and twigs that were entwined with his fur, while he felt his little Maple Tree leaning her head upon his shoulder, weeping into it. If he could, he would have pulled both of his mate and daughter close to him, embracing them and would tell them how sorry he was that he had to keep such a deep secret from them.

Curiously though, an approaching ape had caught his eyes, an ape that looked ever so familiar. Huffing, Grey turned his gaze upwards and his eyes widened when his vision finally focused to see who the ape was. There standing in front of him and his family stood Koba, looking down at him with worry lacing across his features.

"Ko-ba?" Grey wheezed. "That you?"

"Grey?" Koba answered back, immediately kneeling down besides the wounded chimp and looking him over.

Grey himself couldn't believe it. Kneeling next to him now was the ape he had thought for sure was dead. He himself saw Koba fall into the bottomless pit of the human tower. Yet, here the bonobo was, looking better than usual, sans a few changes.

"Stay away! From father!" Maple hissed as she moved to stand between her sire and the bonobo who had caused all of this.

Maple however was suddenly stopped as she turned around quickly to see her father taking a hold of her arm with one bloody hand.

"No," Grey wheezed out tiredly as he held onto Maple's arm. "No.."

Maple looked back and forth from Koba to her father before she sniffed loudly and turned back to face the older male.

"Grey?" Koba spoke up, causing the wounded male to look his way. "I'm sorry."

Upon hearing this from Koba, Grey's eyes lit up lighty and a small smirk formed upon his lips. Soon enough, another figure joined the small group and they all turned to look up at Ellie, whom stood there hesitantly. Cedar hissed at the woman while Maple hiccuped loudly before wiping away at her falling tears, meeting the human woman's olive colored eyes. Koba quickly faced Cedar and Maple, gesturing to them that the human did not mean any harm before slowly turning back towards Ellie and offered his hand. Grey and his family watched curiously as the human gently took Koba's outstretched hand and sat herself right next to Grey and Maple.

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm here to help," Ellie spoke softly to the two females as she put down her large bag.

Sniffing, Maple wiped away at her tears as she looked back and forth from the human woman to her father.

"Please. Help," Maple begged the human nurse, reaching out and taking a hold of her shirt sleeve.

"I promise, I will do what I can," Ellie answered back, placing her own hand over the young female's and patting it lightly before turning her sights back to the wounded chimpanzee and Koba.

They all heard footsteps behind them and turned to see that Caesar and the others had approached, looking on curiously.

"I need to work on him, now. Caesar, Koba, can you and the others help me?" Ellie asked the two apes as she prepared herself, already taking out the necessary tools to operate on the wounded chimp.

" _What do you need us to do?_ " Caesar asked.

…

They worked as fast as they could, following the human nurse's orders and doing what they were told. Ellie had directed them all to find a more suitable place and they laid out some sort of fabric on the flat ground before gently placing Grey upon it. Ellie had then asked Caesar to take both Cedar and Maple away as what she was going to do to Grey could cause… protective instincts to take over and could potentially jeopardize her work. So, reluctantly, Caesar ordered a couple of the gorillas to more or less take both the females away, even as they cried out and reached for the wounded male. After that, some of the stronger males were asked to pin down Grey's limbs as Ellie began to work on the wounded chimp. She had warned them that his cries might scare them but told them to hold him down still, and so, they did.

Caesar did not know how long it was since Ellie began to operate on Grey. All he could hear was the wounded male's painful cries and grunts as he was being operated on. This caused the other apes around them to be distressed as well but Caesar and the other apes did their best to calm them down. Caesar had caught a glimpse of Koba who was never too far from Ellie as he watched his friend being operated on but Caesar decided to leave him be for now.

There was another fanfare of cries, alerting all of them and causing everyone to turned their head up over to an edge of the forest. There, everyone saw seven individuals. Two humans and the rest, apes, all huffing and puffing as they looked down at the group before them.

It took Caesar a moment but then he recognize the group before him and his eyes widened as he slowly approached, lifting a hand up to quell the apes around him. The seven individuals descended the slope and one of the young apes approached, looking ever so familiar with several streaks of scars marring his chest area and sky colored eyes looking right back at him.

" _Father,_ " Blue Eyes gestured towards the older chimp before his eyes looked to the side. " _Mother._ "

It was then that both Caesar and Cornelia rushed in and quickly embraced their oldest child, overjoyed to see him again. There was a small chuckle between the two older chimps and Blue Eyes hugged his mother and father back.

"Blue Eyes. My son," Caesar said quietly as he hugged his son along with Cornelia.

" _So happy that you are home,_ " Cornelia gestured emotionally.

"Good. To be. Home," Blue Eyes answered back as he pulled away from his parent's embrace.

At this, Cornelia smiled warmly as she reached up and placed a hand upon her eldest child's cheek, seeing Blue Eyes close his eyes and leaning into her hand. She then wrapped her arms around her son and hugged him once more, glad that he was safe and sound.

Still in the moment of their reunion, Caesar lifted his head away from Cornelia and Blue Eyes to see the others standing just a little bit away from them.

" _It is good to see you all again,_ " Caesar gestured to the others as he walked on over and threw a hand over Rocket's shoulder, giving him a few pats. " _You kept them safe. Thank you._ "

" _It was tough,_ " Rocket replied with a slight smirk to his face as he too threw an arm over Caesar's shoulder.

Caesar nodded, understanding before he turned his gaze to the others.

" _Ash, how are you?_ " Caesar asked as he reached on over to take a hold of the younger chimp's shoulders.

" _I am well, uncle,_ " Ash gestured back with a beaming smile.

Caesar then welcomed back Ray as well, informing the young orangutan of how proud he was of him. It was when Caesar took note of Fox standing just a little bit away and was confused by it. When Caesar inquired the young chimp, Fox had shamefully averted his gaze and instead offered up his palm in supplication.

"Forgive me," Fox said quietly.

At this, Caesar turned to Blue Eyes and the others with a questioning look before turning back to the young chimpanzee.

"For what?" Caesar asked.

"I-I…" Fox spoke up but was at a lost of words, too ashamed of himself to continue on what he was going to say.

Ray then stepped up and reached out, taking a hold of Fox's shoulder, meeting the other ape's eyes before turning to face their king.

" _He has been through a lot. Forgive him. Please,_ " Ray gestured instead.

Still unsure of what was going on, Caesar however huffed out tiredly and slowly reached out, stroking his finger's upon the younger ape's outstretched palm. Fox slowly brought his hand close to his body and he turned to meet Caesar's gaze for a moment before he lowered his head again and walked away, leaving them.

"Caesar?"

Caesar turned around and saw both Malcolm and Alex, seeing that while the two humans looked a bit gaunt, they seemed to be relatively fine.

"Malcolm?" Caesar answered curiously, confused.

"Where is Ellie?" Malcolm asked.

Caesar quirked a brow, confused as to why the human was asking him. Shouldn't he know about Ellie and Koba's whereabouts? Did the human not go back to stay with them all this time? Then again, everything had been quite hectic and they must have split up as to not draw attention. But it was curious to see Malcolm and Alexander arriving exactly at the same time as Blue Eyes and the others.

"Ellie is helping. One of our wounded" Caesar finally said.

…

"Ellie?!"

"Mom!"

Upon hearing her name, Ellie's heart skipped a beat as she was pulling a bullet out of the groaning chimpanzee's abdomen.

"Malcolm?! Alex?!"

Ellie saw her two boys as she turned her head slightly, seeing them both soaking wet and looking rather terrible, but both were alive nonetheless. Her eyes immediately blurred when she saw the both of them again.

"Ellie? What's going on?" Malcolm immediately asked as he approached his wife and the group of apes surrounding her.

Malcolm was quickly filled in on what had happened and she was assisting with helping with one of Caesar's ape who had be struck three times in the abdomen. Ellie informed that two of the three wounds looked like they still had bullets lodged within the chimp. The third, had luckily only grazed the chimpanzee's left side.

"I managed to take one of the bullets out and I've used the last of the opioids I had left to relieve as much of the pain I could on him. If we don't hurry and continue he may bleed out and we could lose him," Ellie warned.

"Alex! That bag you found!" Malcolm said quickly as he turned to look at the teen.

Alexander quickly slung the red bag from his back and tossed it on over to where his father was. Malcolm quickly opened the bag and revealed an array of emergency medical supplies containing pain medications, antibiotics, surgical utensils and other aid within it.

"How did you? Where did you all find all of these!?" Ellie gasped.

"A gift, from a friend... who couldn't make it," Malcolm answered.

As Malcolm spoke to her, she noticed a tinge of sorrow within the man's voice. Ellie met Malcolm's gaze and could see nothing by sadness and loss within the man's clear blue eyes. She nodded slowly in understanding before taking a deep breath and turning back towards her patient.

"Whoever they were… They might might just have the necessary things to help this ape here…" Ellie said slowly as she took whatever she needed out of the bag. "Malcolm, I know you just came back but can you-"

"Already doing it," Malcolm interrupted Ellie as he quickly took the half empty bottle of rubbing alcohol and doused his hands and arms in it. "Just tell me what to do."

...

A little while after, once they had reunited with each other, Caesar and the others had decided to go on back and check in on the humans and how everything else was going. While they were all making their trek back, Maurice and Luca slowly approached and greeted them.

"Maurice. Luca!" Ash hooted excitedly.

" _Ash, everyone else! Welcome home,_ " Maurice greeted in kind.

Luca meanwhile grunted in acknowledgment with a nod, glad to see that everyone was okay too.

" _How is Grey?_ " Caesar asked.

" _The humans said that he is doing well from my understanding. For now, he needs rest to conserve his energy,_ " Maurice explained.

"Father, what happened?" Blue Eyes inquired curiously.

"Many things, son," Caesar answered back with a tired voice.

There was a alarming hoot as Ash suddenly fell backwards and quickly scrambled back up, hiding behind Rocket, confusing the older chimp.

"Ash what's-"

"Koba!" Ash whimpered aloud.

Blue Eyes followed his honorary brother's gaze and froze. There, standing true was the honorary uncle he had thought he had lost, staring back with that familiar scar over his face. Blue Eyes huffed to himself, noticing that Koba looked very different, yet looked the same as well, giving him a sense of surreal reality.

"Koba?" Blue Eyes spoke up as he took a step forward towards the scarred bonobo.

With a blink, Koba turned to looked at Blue Eyes and for a moment simply stared. The older ape then offered the young chimp a smile.

" _Blue Eyes,_ " Koba gestured back.

There were several whimpering noises that were emitted from Ash as he looked back and forth from Koba to the others around them.

" _Koba alive? How? Why?_ " Ash gestured to the others, before turning to look at the older ape again. " _Why is he alive?_ "

Upon seeing the distress upon Ash, Koba frowned at himself. Knowing well, that the mere sight of him would case the younger ape to be in distressed. He however needed to make amends with Ash and hoped that maybe the younger ape would forgive him. For what he did.

"Ash I-"

"Don't!" Rocket barked, cutting Koba off mid sentence. " _You do not get to speak to my son,_ " Rocket finished.

With this sudden outburst, Koba met Rocket's angry green eyes before he slowly took in a deep breath and backed away, nodding slowly.

"I'm… I am. Sorry," Koba apologized genuinely, meeting Ash's fearful gaze before looking away.

" _Come now, everyone. Let us all rest for the moment. There will be many things to do and we must conserve our strengths until then,_ " Maurice interjected.

"Maurice is right," Caesar spoke up. " _There is too much that needs to be done right now. We need to rest and secure the area. There will be human soldiers that have followed us through the forest. We need to keep them distracted and away from the apes,_ " he explained. " _Rocket, are you well my friend?_ " he asked.

" _What do you need me to do Caesar?_ " Rocket gestured back.

" _I need you, Luca to secure the area. Let Andy and a few others know to scout around us for any dangers. The rest of us will stay back here and tend to the wounded and traitors,_ " Caesar gestured.

With a single chest pound from both Rocket and Luca, the two apes bolted off to do as what Caesar had asked of them. Caesar had then ordered Ash and Blue Eyes to go with both Cornelia and Maurice to tend to the apes while he himself will deal with the turncoat apes. To his surprise, instead of arguing like he had expected, Caesar was quite surprise to Blue Eyes nodding and doing what he was told. He watched as the for took their leave and he couldn't help but smile proudly. He was quite surprised by how much Blue Eyes had changed in the nearly three months since they had left but welcomed it so.

"Caesar?"

Turning around slowly, Caesar met Koba's hesitant gaze.

" _What about me Caesar?_ " Koba asked.

" _Are you well?_ " Caesar simply asked.

Koba blinked at this question, not sure on how to answer his leader. He had to think on it for a moment before meeting Caesar's gaze again.

" _Yes. I am well. I… I won't do anything to-_ "

"Then you stay by Grey's side. He will need your strength," Caesar spoke up before turning back around and walked away.

Koba was at a lost of words of what to say as he stood there all alone. He huffed quietly to himself as he looked down to the side. Caesar however had given him an order and did not reject him, like he thought the ape leader would. Maybe… maybe this was Caesar's way of trusting him again. If that is the case then he would do as what Caesar had told him. He will earn the ape leader, his friend's trust again. No matter what it took.

With that thought in mind, Koba too turned around and walked off in the direction of where Grey and the humans were.


	40. Chapter 40

**Sorry for taking so long everyone! Been very busy and all but here is chapter 40. Or what I would like to say... Part 2 of the Reunion chapter. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter as well.**

* * *

Assisting a few of the elderly apes and wounded ones with the move. Even though he was welcomed back with open arms, Blue Eyes noticed that all was not well. From what he had gathered from his father and a few of the other apes, many things had happened since he, Ash, Rocket, Ray, Malcolm and Alexander had left. He had took notice of some of the ape branded traitors whom were all slighting giving him hesitant or fiercely death stares. Ignoring them for now, Blue Eyes contented himself with the task at hand, dealing with the apes who had betrayed them, will most definitely come at a later time.

In the middle of things, Blue Eyes had paused momentarily as he felt something or rather someone watching him. Turning his head to and fro, Blue Eyes looked about himself. As he kept searching his icy colored eyes were soon met with another set, whose own eyes sparkled with that of a vibrant evergreen forest leaves. His breath catching in his throat, Blue Eyes lightly placed his things back onto the ground and he slowly approached the other ape who was silently waiting for him.

Stopping in front of the smaller female, Blue Eyes did not know what to do nor say. The other ape couldn't help herself as she turned away and chuckled lightly, one hand covering her mouth all the while. Before Blue Eyes could ask what was so funny, the smaller female turned back and met his gaze and her features softened.

" _Blue Eyes?_ "

" _Lake,_ "

Lake then reached upwards and cupped Blue Eyes' cheek, whom he breathed deeply and leaned into her touch before placing his hand over hers as well, closing his eyes momentarily before opening them back up again.

"You are okay. Not hurt?" Lake asked softly.

"No. Not hurt," Blue Eyes breathed back in a low voice.

With a quiet sniff from Lake, she then wrapped her arms around Blue Eyes and held onto him tightly, burying her head into his chest. Lake could feel Blue Eyes' arms wrap themselves around her, holding her protectively close. They both stood like that for a long time before Lake finally glanced upwards to meet sky blue hues. The both of them smiled and both touched foreheads.

"I was so scared," Lake whispered, "so worried for you."

"Worried for you, too," Blue Eyes responded.

The two cuddled there for another long moment and Blue Eyes shifted a little bit, causing Lake to curiously look up at him.

"Sorry," Blue Eyes said hesitantly, his face looking a little flustered.

"Sorry? For what?" Lake gestured curiously to the bigger male.

"For not saying. Goodbye, to you. When I left," Blue Eyes explained with a small frown. "And seeing you. When I came. Back home."

At this, Lake couldn't help herself as she smiled up warmly at Blue Eyes and she placed her head upon his chest again.

"It okay," Lake spoke softly. "As long. As you. Remember."

Lake then felt Blue Eyes hold her again and she couldn't stop smiling, feeling so much comfort and love from him. Her mother was right, Blue Eyes might not have said anything before but his actions speaks more than words can and she understood that now.

"Tell me what happened? On your journey?" Lake asked, tilting her head up to look at Blue Eyes.

Blue Eyes smiled down at Lake and placed his forehead upon her's once more. He then looked away from her and noticed that Ash was consoling Maple in the distance, whom was hugging onto him tightly.

"I will tell you." Blue Eyes said finally as he kept his gaze upon the other couple. "We will tell everyone all of it," he finished, rounding his head back down to meet Lake's evergreen eyes.

…

It's been so long, since Cornelia and the others had left Tinker, Cornelius and Flint that morning. Leaving the three by the edge of their burnt down home, by the final resting place of both Ajax and Thorn. Tinker held Cornelius close to her body as Flint paced around, keeping his eyes on the lookout. For the longest time the female merely watched Flint continue his pacing and played with Cornelius for a little bit when he tugged on her necklace rings. It was when the three had heard the sounds of approaching apes did they quickly hid themselves away once more, bracing themselves for any danger.

As they waited they all saw a few apes from the scouting party, but from which, they did not know. Flint breathed deeply as he readied his gun, preparing himself to fight to the death if need be. However, a gentle hand upon his arm, caused the young male to stop and turn back to look at Tinker. The older female shook her head slowly at him.

"Look," Tinker breathed out, nodding her head at the other apes.

As Flint turned back around, he noticed that the ape scouts were not ones that were under Grey's leadership, but those that were still loyal to Caesar. Flint glanced back at Tinker who nodded slowly before she emerged from their hiding spot to show herself to the others. Upon seeing someone emerge unexpectedly the other apes were quick on the defense. However, as soon as they recognized Tinker and the young prince, the apes all immediately rushed on over. They happily greeted Tinker and young Cornelius happily and even welcomed Flint when he had too emerged. They let Tinker and Flint know of what had happened and soon enough they were escorted back to the rest of the apes whom were waiting for them.

Eventually the three were led back to where the other apes were and as they arrived, Tinker saw both Cornelia and Caesar addressing the other apes in the distance. She turned to look at Flint who nodded at her before he took note of his mother - Cleo, who rushed on over and forcefully hugged him. Smiling at the scene, Tinker left the mother and child and slowly approached both Caesar and Cornelia, pausing when they turned around and took notice of her.

"Tinker!" both king and queen exclaimed at the same time, smiles upon their faces.

Caesar and Cornelia approached their very good friend and hugged her. After their hug, Tinker smiled and offered little Cornelius back to his parents, who happily hooted as he jumped into the arms of his loving mother and father.

" _Thank you, Tinker. For protecting my son,_ " Caesar thanked the petite female.

" _Yes. Thank you so much Tinker. I could not have asked anyone else,_ " Cornelia echoed signed as she hugged Tinker once more.

" _I will always look out for our children. Even when you both are unable to,_ " Tinker responded happily as she finished her hug with Cornelia. " _I am just happy that you both are safe._ "

" _We are glad you are safe too,_ " Caesar responded.

" _Both you, Cornelius and Flint,_ " Cornelia chimed in with a warm smile.

" _I was so worried that-_ "

While Tinker was signing back to both Caesar and Cornelia, something familiar caught the petite female's eyes, causing her to freeze mid-sign. Tinker's breath quickened as she looked past both Caesar and Cornelia, to see to familiar looking chimps standing just a few feet away. She glanced back to her two friends and seeing the knowing smile on their faces, both Caesar and Cornelia took a step back away from her, to allow her to see more as well.

Ash and Rocket were both carrying some hefty equipment around, busy with moving thing about. Ash however stopped momentarily to take in a couple of breaths before he suddenly paused and looked in the distance when he felt someone was staring at him. Noticing that his son had stopped working and staring off as well, Rocket too had paused and turned around to see what Ash was looking at. To the older chimp's surprise, both he and Ash could see a familiar petite looking female chimp, holding her hands close to her bosom staring at them.

With deep emotions filling her being, Tinker slowly but carefully approached the two males. She stopped by the younger male first and slowly reached out, cupping Ash's cheek and feeling him lean into her hand affectionately. With a joyful huff, Tinker quickly embraced her only child happily, feeling his strong arms hugging her back.

"Ash," Tinker whimpered aloud happily, as she did her best to wrap her arm around her son's frame while tears slid down her cheeks.

"Mother," Ash answered as he gently hugged his smaller mother back, burying his cheek into her shoulder, making small whimpers all the while.

Both Ash and Tinker stood like that for a long time until finally the two released each other. While staring at Ash, Tinker's features warped into that of a concerned look as she gently reached up and touched the bald spot on her son's head. Worried at what had caused her son to be in such a state, Tinker met Ash's eyes once more but she was met with a congenial smile from the younger ape. That was right, the danger has come to pass now. Ash, her son, was now here, safe and sound among friends and family who cares for him and love him. Gently, Tinker pulled Ash's head down and kissed the exposed skin, in hopes that it might soothe him.

Slowly looking away from Ash, Tinker met the beautiful green hues of her mate - Rocket. The bigger nearly hairless chimp approached and Tinker couldn't help herself as she beamed delightfully at her mate. Tinker then leaned upwards to meet his lips with hers, the gesture reciprocated strongly, before slowly pulling back.

"I see you, Rocket," Tinker whispered lightly, gesturing at the same time.

"I see you, Tinker," Rocket answered back in his deep husky voice, mirroring Tinker's signs as well.

Tinker immediately wrapped her arms around Rocket's big frame, burying her head into his chest as whimpering cries were emitted from her. She could then feel Rocket wrapping his muscular arms around her, feeling his warmth and protection as he held onto her, like he always did and always had. Tinker then felt Rocket shift and she felt him pull in another body into their little hug, earning a light laugh from their son as he too was roped into the embrace. Tinker felt herself being squished slightly between Rocket and Ash's hugs but she could care less about that now. All that mattered to her was that she was in the loving arms of her beloved family and she cherished every moment of it, as long as it was presented.

From afar, Caesar and Cornelia were watching with smiles upon their own faces as they observed Tinker's happy face as she was finally reunited with her beloved husband and son. As the two watched the joyful reunion, they were both soon joined by Blue Eyes and stood next to them and carefully observed as well, a content smile upon his face.

" _Aunt Tinker looks happy,_ " Blue Eyes gestured.

" _As she should be,_ " Cornelia answered as she held onto little Cornelius.

"As we all should be," Caesar voiced as well, keeping his eyes upon the happy family in front of him.

Maurice then ambled up to both Caesar and Cornelia and sadly looked at them both.

" _It is time my friends,_ " Maurice gestured.

Caesar took in a deep breath and nodded slowly. This was inevitable but they must take care of this mess sooner or later.

"Come, let us decide," Caesar finally responded.

…

Fox, Flint and Shell all looked about themselves as they were placed within the group of other ape traitors who had abandoned the colony for their own gain. Meanwhile, Caesar and the ape council were busily talking among themselves on what was needed to be done about the rest of the apes who had betrayed them. There were talks about putting the traitors to death which would be simple enough and caused many of the surrounding apes, the females at least, to hoot out in concern. However, that was quickly abated as many of the other council members went against the ideas, knowing well that, that alone is not their way to do things. So the discussion drew on with the traitors waiting in anticipation on what their fates were going to be.

"What you think. They do?" Shell asked hesitantly, nudging both Fox and Flint.

"I don't know," Fox breathed tiredly as he idly scratched at the bald spot on his head.

"What they. Do to us?" Flint asked next.

"I don't know," Fox responded once more, his eyes looking down at the ground.

And as if both Flint and Shell's questions had been heard, Caesar had suddenly stood up and turned to face them, his face set within a stern frown. The air grew tense and silent as Caesar made his way on over to where the ape traitors were and met all of their gazes. Some looked on with fierce glares of their own, challenging Caesar, while others looked on with fear, submission and shame.

"Ape!" Caesar bellowed loudly, making sure that everyone heard him. "Not kill. Ape. You. Have all broken our sacred law. For your own selfish. Reasons. Council. Have discussed this. On what to do. With the rest of you. Who did not run. It would be quicker to end you all. Here and now… but that is not our way," Caesar said aloud. "Instead, you are all banished. From the colony!" Caesar announced, earning a chorus of hoots, bellows and cries around him.

Once that was said and done, a few of the warriors walked on over and undid the binds of the ape traitors, one at a time.

"Leave. And never come back," Caesar seethed through gritted teeth at the turncoats.

At first a few of the apes looked about momentarily, before a few quickly scampered away from the grove that they were all in, heading eastward through the forest. However, many of the turncoats stayed where they were, unsure of what to do nor where to go, especially the younger ones.

" _Caesar please. We have nowhere else to go,_ " Rex pleaded, huffing, catching Caesar's attention.

At this, Caesar snarled and stood right in front of Rex's face.

"You have no home here anymore! You! and the rest of the traitors! Have no right to stay! Can go anywhere, but here!" Caesar growled.

Rex shrinked back a bit and lowered his eyes. Never had they all seen Caesar this angry before but it was very just, after what the ape traitors had done. They nearly got most of the apes killed back in the city and very much like Pope did, they started a coup, in which they were taking all of the apes away from Caesar and the rest of the apes that had followed him. Something like this was entirely unforgivable and will not stand for.

Caesar then felt a hand upon his shoulder, causing him to turn and meet Maurice.

" _Caesar, banishing the ones who had betrayed us is the right thing to do, yes. But there are others who truly have nowhere else to go,_ " Maurice gestured as he waved his hand to the very few adult apes who haven't moved yet, Rex included.

Maurice solemnly glanced about and then notice the younger apes whom were lopped into the traitors group too.

" _Those young ones are as much a victim in all of this as well. You know like I do, that apes can change. Given the time and chance,_ " Maurice explained.

There was a grunt and Rocket marched up to both Maurice and Caesar.

" _I don't like this idea,_ " Rocket gestured in with a deep frown. " _We don't even know if these apes could be trusted. After what they've done._ "

" _Rocket, be reasonable. You know these apes through and through,_ " Maurice gestured to the bulky chimp. " _Even if they did this. They are still our family._ "

" _Family do not do this to each other,_ " Rocket gestured back with a huff. " _They do not try to kill you, Maurice. They don't try to kill our family and friends. They do not try to take leadership away. If they were really family. They would not have done all this,_ " Rocket grunted.

Maurice however was not quite fazed by Rocket, but smiled sadly back at the bulky chimp.

" _It was not long ago that we apes were already doing that, Rocket. We hurt each other to gain power. Even sometimes going so far as to kill each other too. But we have learned and have grown. We must be better than this,_ " Maurice explained. " _That is what you believe in, yes? The both of you._ "

Caesar looked back and forth between Rocket and Maurice, deciding on who was right and who was wrong in this matter. But there is no right or wrong, was there?

" _Please reconsider, Caesar. Give them a chance,_ " Maurice gestured solemnly. " _Like with Koba, who has already changed so much._ "

At the mention of Koba's name, both Caesar and Rocket met Maurice's beady green eyes. Rocket did not look too happy as he gave Maurice his signature frown. Caesar however, regarded the traitor apes and could see them apprehensively awaiting for his decision. The longer he stared at them though the more he saw Blue Eyes, Ash, Rocket, Maurice and the others staring back at him. With a final sigh, Caesar lowered his gaze before gathering himself once more.

"Fine… they can stay," Caesar spoke lowly. "But if any of you even dare to betray us again. You will be banished with the rest," he warned, turning to face them all. "Is that understood?"

There was a sigh of relief from among the traitor apes who had chosen to stay behind.

" _Oh thank you Caesar. Thank you so much!_ " Rex gestured gleefully.

Fox and the other young apes though, looked up at Caesar who met their gaze momentarily before turning around and leaving.

" _Lucky us. We are not banished,_ " Shell gestured apprehensively at both Fox and Flint.

" _Yes, but that does not help our situation at all,_ " Flint gestured and indicated Shell to look around.

The white eared chimpanzee looked about and noticed that many of the apes were all looking at them.

" _They are watching us. Keeping eyes on us. In case we decide to betray again,_ " Fox explained with slow hand movements, while Shell lowered his head at this news.

Just as Fox was about to turn away he took notice of Ray, up in the trees with several of the other apes, looking down at them all. Eventually though, Fox turned his gaze and walked away with Flint and Shell, leaving the rest of the apes behind to decide on what they were going to do with the traitors.

As the trio continued about, eventually both Flint and Shell broke away from their little group to their respective families. Shell trotted along and approached his mother - Melody, and older sister, Ivy. Both, whom hugged the young white eared chimpanzee emotionally. Flint was in the same predicament with his own mother - Cleo, as she hugged him strongly as well. Happy that he was safe and sound, back within her arms, the only family she had left.

Observing his companions from afar, Fox felt a gentle and familiar hand taking a hold of his arm, causing him to turn around and meet his mother - Imani. The older female smiled warmly at Fox and she slowly brought the both of them close together into a hug.

"Home. Safe," Imani whimpered happily.

"Home. Safe," Fox repeated gently hugged his mother back.

" _I thought I was going to lose you,_ " Imani explained through her hand speak. " _I don't know what I would have done if you never would have come back._ "

" _Then you move on. Without me, mother,_ " Fox explained with a sad smile.

" _I do not know if I can do such a thing,_ " Imani explained with a few tears falling from her eyes. " _You are my son. My only son. And if I lose you too, I don't know if I could ever go on living,_ " she continued.

"Mother…" Fox spoke quietly as he hugged his mother tighter.

…

When he had slowly came to, Grey felt his body aching all over the place and when he moved he winced when sharp pain raced across his stomach, causing him to grunt.

"Grey?"

At the sound of the familiar voice calling his name, Grey slowly rotated his head and was met with the teary face of his beloved - Cedar. Upon seeing Grey rousing back from his deep sleep, Cedar's face contorted to one that was full of emotion and she quickly knelt down next to the male and nuzzled her cheek with his.

"I thought," Cedar whimpered as she held onto Grey's head. "Lose you," she hiccuped.

"Sorry," Grey answered back in a tired breath, as his face was muddled with Cedar's tears.

After a little bit, both Grey and Cedar relaxed once more and began to slowly talked about what had happened. Whom had healed him and what Caesar and the others were doing. Soon enough, Cedar had positioned herself so that her head was laying slightly upon Grey's chest, so that she could listen to his strong steady heartbeats and look into his eyes. Every Time she heard the sound of Grey's heart, it brought her so much joy, as it let her know that her Grey was still very much alive.

"Where. Maple?" Grey asked after a long while, meeting Cedar's eyes.

" _She is with-_ "

"Father?"

At the sound of the voice, both Cedar and Grey glanced up to see both Maple and Ash standing a few feet away. Upon seeing his daughter, Grey offered the young female a tired smile. The brown haired female on the other hand; Maple's face scrunched up as tears welled up within her eyes and she immediately rushed on over towards her father's side. Maple buried her head into the older male's shoulder and cried into it, happy to see her father awake after what he's gone through for them.

"Father. I'm sorry father. So sorry," Maple wept and repeated over and over again.

Grey on the other hand had let out a deep breath and slowly reached out with one hand, placing it upon his daughter's head. At this notion, Maple looked up and met Grey's gaze, whom smiled back at her, his own eyes wet too.

"Glad. You. Safe," Grey said lovingly.

Maple lifted her head and wiped away at her flowing tears.

" _Even after all I have done to you? You still worry for me?_ " Maple questioned.

"Always. Worry. For you," Grey breathed, a few tears finally fell from his eyes as well.

Maple sniffled warmly at her father before she reached around her waist side and pulled something out that looked oddly familiar. There, hooked around Maple's hands was a loop made out of an array of different flowers, a small section of them looked to have been flattened. Grey's eyes widened slightly as he saw what Maple had brought out to show him.

Greys crown of flowers that he had made for his daughter.

Maple slowly brought the circlet of flora up over her head and placed it on there. Once they were settled, Maple looked back down at her father and smiled warmly at him.

" _They are beautiful, father. I love them. Made from my favorite flowers,_ " Maple gestured with a few sniffles.

" _But, they are no good anymore,_ " Grey gestured confusingly.

" _They will always be good, because you made them. So I will wear it with pride,_ " Maple responded back proudly before her features softened. " _I am happy to be your daughter, father._ "

Upon seeing this, Grey's eyes became wet again as he huffed, not knowing what to say.

" _And I am happy to have you as my daughter,_ " Grey responded.

While both father and daughter converse with each other, Grey soon took notice of Ash standing off to the side.

" _Ash, you have returned,_ " Grey greeted.

" _Yes. Am home,_ " Ash answered as he walked towards the small family and stood by Maple's side. " _We all heard what you did for the apes. Thank you, Grey_ " Ash continued to which the older chimp simply nodded back.

As the joyful reunion continued between Grey and his family, another ape soon came upon the group and silently stood off to the side. Eventually while the small family was busy reminiscing with each other the lone ape made a grunting noise to catch all of their attention.

"Koba?" Cedar breathed, her face set into a frown.

" _What are you doing here?_ " Ash gestured hesitantly.

The scarred bonobo turned his attention to the younger male and Ash shrunk back slightly. Slowly, Koba turned his attention back to the other apes.

"Grey. Is my friend," Koba said simply after a long silent moment. " _I am here to see him._ "

Taking in a deep breath, Koba turned his attention back to where Grey was laying and slowly approached the wounded chimpanzee. As the scarred bonobo approached, Cedar crouched herself protectively over Grey. As did Maple who stood between all of them.

" _I am not going to hurt him, Cedar,_ " Koba informed.

" _No, but you have done enough already, haven't you?_ " Cedar shot back.

Koba froze on the spot and shamefully turned his head away from Cedar. He had wanted to argue, to say that he was used and that not all of this was his fault. But the truth of the matter is, he was the cause of all of this, every single one of it and he had no one else to blame, but him. Even if he was manipulated into doing this, the choice had been his to choose.

"Koba…"

Koba glanced back at the sound of his name being uttered, as did everyone else. They all watched as Grey reached up and lightly touched Cedar on the arm and let her know that it was okay. He then gestured towards Maple and Ash as well, asking all of them to let him talk with Koba alone. There was a brief hesitance at first and they didn't know what to do.

Koba turned his sights back to where Grey laid and the brown haired chimpanzee lightly touched Cedar's arm and nodded once at her. Grey then gestured the others and they all silently nodded before hesitantly leaving. Koba watched as the other left the two of them alone before slowly turning back to look down at Grey, who smiled at him.

"How are you?" Koba asked.

Grey paused for a moment to take a deep breath with his eyes closed before opening them back up again.

" _Hurt everywhere. But I'm better now,_ " Grey answered with slow hand movements.

"I can see," Koba responded as he moved to sit next to Grey.

The two stayed like that for a long while, just in silence and staring off into the distance.

"What happened. Koba?" Grey breathed out.

Koba glanced down at the brown haired chimpanzee and looked him over. He didn't even know where to start. So many things had happened and he had yet to tell anyone of what had happened to him. To be honest, he was afraid to say so as well.

" _If you do not want to talk about it, I understand,_ " Grey wheezed as he lifted his hands up to sign.

Immediately, Grey's hands were stopped by Koba's as the scarred bonobo seemed to be in deep thought before he closed his eyes and had let out a deep sigh.

"No. I will tell you. Everything," Koba responded slowly.

As Koba began his tale, Grey simply laid there and listened carefully to the bonobo's words and hand-speak when he didn't know how to voice the feelings. The more Grey watched Koba though the more he understood the change that had occurred to the once troubled ape. Once Koba had finished, he glanced back down at Grey who was simply staring up at him a slight smile to his face.

" _You are healing. Finally,_ " Grey gestured.

Koba blinked in surprise before the sides of his mouth lifted up into a smile and he reached out and nudged Grey's should lightly.

" _I am healing? You are one to speak,_ " Koba gestured with a few soft pant-laughs with Grey's own soft ones echoing into the air.

As they both settled down, Koba's good eye glanced on over to the bandages that wrapped around Grey's midsection and his face fell.

" _What's the matter?_ " Grey had asked.

"I should have come sooner. Should have helped you…" Koba said quietly, in shame.

" _Not your fault. My decision. My choice,_ " Grey responded.

Koba nodded understandably so, knowing Grey well enough that when the chimpanzee had his mind set on something, he goes through with it. Very stubborn at times, much like both him and Caesar.

" _I heard from the other apes of what you did for them. You protected them,_ " Koba started after a brief quiet.

" _I had to. No other ape will,_ " Grey replied.

" _But Caesar?_ " Koba suggested.

" _Busy and too risky. Traitors would have found out,_ " Grey responded.

Koba lowered his arms while he observed Grey lying there next to him. The could believe how much Grey had grown himself and what the chimpanzee had done, really did inspire Koba.

"I am proud of what you did, Grey," Koba spoke up quietly. "I am glad to have you as my friend."

Grey's answer was only a simple and content smile. Soon enough the brown haired chimpanzee drifted off back into a deep slumber. Koba stayed by Grey's side a moment longer, listening to the chimpanzee's steady breathing before he quietly got up and left

…

A little later, Fox had broken away from his mother and was taking a walk on the outskirts of the group of apes, to let his mind wander about as well. Caesar's council had taken up order of the apes once more and were assessing the well being of everyone once more. They had also add an exception to the three humans that had stayed, all three whom were helping the apes with many of the wounded and ill. For how long though, they all do not know. Maybe until it was safe enough for Caesar to deem it safe for them to leave again, as always.

As Fox continued on, he noticed a familiar looking ape, standing off by themself, at the edge of the group, looking on. Fox stopped in his track and practically held his breath at the sight of the other ape. He had heard rumors of Koba's return and like many of the other apes, couldn't believe it, from what they had seen. However, then again, Caesar had come back from the dead. So why not Koba as well? They were both strong leaders in their own right.

While Fox stood there, watching, he saw Koba slowly turned his head towards him and simply stared back. It was as if the world has stopped moving around them, while Fox met Koba's looked at each other. The younger chimp faltered a little bit but slowly, he raised his hands up.

" _You are alive,_ " Fox gestured slowly.

" _Yes… Very much so,_ " Koba responded.

Fox was at a lost of words as he stared at Koba but he quickly shook his head and continued.

" _Why? Why did you not come back to the apes? Lead us. Protect us. From the humans,_ " Fox gestured with a slight scowl.

" _I could not... Even if I wanted to,_ " Koba signed back slowly, remembering the time when he was under the care of Ellie and the rest of her family members.

"Why?" Fox grunted angrily.

" _I was weak… I was injured… I was unable to do anything,_ " Koba explained with a scowl at himself.

"We needed you, Koba," Fox huffed a slight desperate frown upon his face. "I needed you... You were like a father to me. To me! I needed you to guide me. Show me the way of what to do in order to survive. I… We…"

Upon seeing Fox explain his frustrations in angry huffs, Koba couldn't help but frown at the younger ape with sympathy. He for one never thought that any of the younger apes would look up to him like that before. He only did what was necessary in order to live, survive and better the colony. He never thought himself as a father figure before. An uncle maybe, but not a father. Approaching Fox, whom was fidgeting on the spot, Koba reached out and lifted the younger ape's head up by the chin and it was there Koba saw himself within Fox too. A damaged soul in need of something or someone to look up to. Like Caesar was to him and now he was for this young ape as well.

"Did not mean to hurt you," Koba spoke softly. "But… You should not look up to me. Find your own path and look for life. Not war and death... Like I did. It will only hurt you. Like it did me."

Listening to Koba's words, Fox's eyes widened slightly and he took a step back, away from the older bonobo. Thinking over on what Koba had just told him, Fox mulled it over and couldn't help but remember that human's last words to him.

"Live. I want you to live. Forgive."

That was what the human elder had told him and it opened his eyes to something much more as well. Was this what Koba was telling him too? To not seek war and death but to look for life instead?

Glanced back up at Koba, Fox thought for a long time before he deeply breathed out through his nostrils. Taking in what Koba had just told him, Fox turned his head away and huffed out, his eyes looking over the masses of apes that were before him.

"You. Have changed," Fox spoke up after a little bit, turning back to look at Koba. "Different now. Not like. Koba. I knew. Before."

Koba rounded his head back to the younger chimpanzee. What Fox had said about him. On how he had changed. Rang pretty much true. He felt the same, that anger, hatred and thirst for wiping out as much of the humans was very much still there. However, then again, that is dampened all the while as well, in a mixture of emotions that was storming within him.

Fox closed his eyes for a long while before opening them back up to meet Koba's golden-green hue. They both stood like that for a few more heartbeats before a small sad smile appeared upon Fox's lips.

"I am happy. That you are here. With us now," Fox said slowly.

Koba stood there and blinked, feeling a sense of warmth emanating from within his chest. Instead of saying anything though, Koba simply nodded once at the younger ape. Fox looked like he was about to say something else but the chimpanzee paused and looked away, a sad look enveloping his face. He then met Koba's gaze once more and offered the older ape a genuine and content smile to which Koba reciprocated.

Without another word spoken between them, Fox had then turned around and walked away from Koba. He had paused for a moment and turned slightly back to look at the scarred bonobo whom was still watching him curiously. Fox took in a deep breath, squared his shoulders and gestured something towards Koba. Koba's features softened and he slowly nodded and gestured back. With that, Fox turned back around and moved on, leaving the bonobo there to his thoughts once more.

* * *

 **Characters introduced**

 **Imani - Fox's mother. (OC)**

 **Cleo - Flint's mother and she is from Firestorm and Revelations (mentioned by name only).**

 **Melody - Shell's mother. (OC)**

 **Ivy - Shell's older sister. (OC)**

 **I think I'll be officially done with Revelation in 1-2 more chapters? That way we can go into a chronicles of sorts for the in-between before we finally arrive in War.**


	41. Chapter 41

**Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait but I was able to finish this section of the next chapter! Again, thank you all for taking the time to read and especially a special Thank You to all who had left a comment and or review of any sort during my fic. The next chapter will be an epilogue of sort for the end of my Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Revelations run. Then it'll be a few chapters of what happens in between that before we finally get to War of the Planet of the Apes. Happy readings everyone!**

* * *

Making his way through the foliage of the dark forest, Malcolm finally emerged out into the open by the roadside. Wiping away at his brow, he could see the small campfires that littered the beach down below and while turning to look behind him, was the dark forest that had kept him and the apes safe for the past few days. He knew that what he was doing was a stupid idea. Suicidal even, coming all the way out here alone. But, if there was a chance to stop all this and prevent any further loss from both sides. Then he was more than happy to risk it, no matter the cost.

He was going to reason with the person in charge of the human army.

"I'm sorry Alex. Ellie. Please forgive me," Malcolm said quietly before moving on down to where the humans were.

"Hey! Stop right where you are!" One of the soldiers on the sandy beach yelled.

"Don't shoot! I'm human!" Malcolm announced, raising his hands to show that he was friendly.

Upon seeing Malcolm slowly approaching with his hands raised in wearing a white shirt, they lowered their weapons slightly

"You one of the San Frans?" Another soldier asked.

"A what? Oh! Yes! Yes I am! Please don't shoot," Malcolm responded.

The soldiers lowered their guns and finally approached him, looking him over once before glancing behind him.

"Where'd you come from."

"I need to speak to whoever is in charge," Malcolm answered the soldier.

The few soldiers glanced at each other curiously before they eyed Malcolm once more.

"What for, San Fran?"

"I…" Malcolm spoke up but cleared his throat. "I have information about the apes," he finished.

Before long, Malcolm found himself standing on the outskirts of the sandy beach, their light source being that of a few set up light posts, bonfires and the blue white moon itself. The soldiers had made him stand there for who knows how long and he was just starting to get relaxed when a few approaching figures were approaching him. Licking his dry lips and straightening himself up, Malcolm took a deep breath and awaited for whoever it was to meet him.

When the other person finally arrived, Malcolm couldn't help himself as he stood in front of someone who held authority over everyone else. The other man, was decked out in camo gear and was wearing a simple brown vest to his person. What was striking to Malcolm though, was the man's piercing icy colored eyes that met his own clear sky colored ones as he removed his sunglasses.

"My soldiers says that you know these… Animals."

"Caesar and his people. They're not animals," Malcolm corrected.

The man quirked a brow.

"Caesar? So that is his name. These things are naming themselves now. And after historical figures too, no less," the man continued as he looked around at his soldiers whom all had an array of emotion upon their faces, mainly the look of disgust and stoic frowns.

Hearing this, Malcolm couldn't help himself but set his mouth into a thin line as he met the other man's eyes.

"I am Colonel McCullough."

"Malcolm."

"And what can you tell us about these… Apes?"

"That they want nothing more than peace."

There was a silence and the colonel's eyes seemed to have narrowed slightly but did nothing else. After a brief quiet, Malcolm took that as a sign to continue.

"The apes. They're more than just animals like you and other people think. Caesar. He's their leader. A great one at that. He's just... Remarkable. If we work together from now on. We could establish peace and-"

"Peace."

Malcolm stopped when he was suddenly interrupted by the colonel himself.

"Peace," McCullough started as he looked away, letting his head turn upwards towards the dark night sky. "Peace was what you and your people tried to establish correct?"

At this question, Malcolm tilted his head curiously.

"How did that work out?" The man asked, turning back to look at Malcolm.

"What do you mean?"

"You say that they want peace. Okay. Peace was made. However, after they found out that there were still people left within San Francisco. What happened then? From what I heard. This peace, was suppose to allow both humans and apes to live in harmony, correct? Yet here we stand, war torn and strewn apart. Cast out into the world with nothing but blood, fire and fury to rake over the lands from whence we came. All because of peace," the colonel continued.

"W-wait you can't just assume." Malcolm stuttered. "Something happened. A-"

"A misunderstanding? Something went wrong? Someone got hurt?... Or someone didn't want this peace in the first place." The colonel cut Malcolm off.

Upon hearing this, Malcolm held his tongue, keeping his eyes upon the man that stood before him.

"You see, peace will never last between our two species. When one species rise above the other, both will eventually come into dispute. With that, conflict and strife will always occur, no matter what peace was established. And eventually, war as well."

Suddenly the colonel reach down at his side arm and pulled it out, pointing the end of the barrel right at Malcolm's head, causing him to take a step backward with his hands slightly raised.

"You say you want to establish peace. But I think you're crazy Mr. Malcolm. Peace could never be attained between our two species. This is a holy war between man and beasts. It is the law of nature that allows the strongest species to thrive within it," McCullough stated. "Your compassion to these animals…"

"What are you going to do?" Malcolm asked as a single tear fell from his eyes.

"I am saving the human race," the colonel responded.

"By killing me? What does that say about your humanity then?"

"There are times when we must abandon our humanity to save humanity. In this case, I will abandoned mine to end yours. Yours, that which you have forsaken. Yours, that which will cause the end of humankind. To which, I will save-"

"You're wrong!" Malcolm said aloud suddenly, cutting the other man off. "What you said. What you believe in. Your way of thinking. All of it. It's Wrong. We can coexist in peace. This view.. This God complex of yours. Saying that humans and apes can't coexist in peace. Is a bunch of bull! You're right, it is the law of nature that allows the strongest species to survive. However, that need not be one species, but can be both! Humans… Humans needs to open their eyes and see that we are not the only ones that need to stay at the top. We are not the only animal species on this planet! Not separate and definitely not superior, nor will we ever be. We hold the responsibility of the natural order of this world. To show compassion, to all things that call this planet our home. The apes… They don't want war at all. They want nothing but peace. To stop this senseless fighting. If we don't start changing now, then we humans should be doomed as a species."

Upon hearing Malcolm's outburst the other soldiers and Colonel McCullough were silent for a long time, quietly regarding the man who practically just defended the apes.

"There was this scientist woman, up in Portland Oregon that we visited a few days ago. She was a lot like you, you know? Optimistic about these creatures," the colonel suddenly started up. "However, instead of using her time to find a way to eradicate the enemy, she and her colleagues kept those beasts alive. Running their little tests to find some sort of cure for humanity while humanity itself was slipping closer and closer towards extinction."

"What did you do to her?" Malcolm asked.

"I told her that we were the beginning and the end. Then I killed her and burned down that wretched place."

After the quiet silence the colonel raised his weapon once more and aimed it at Malcolm's head and the silent of the night was disturbed by the sound of a single report that rang through the air.

...

For the first few days, Caesar and the other apes were quite surprised that the human soldiers had not come after them into the forest. The scouts had all came back and noted that the humans were keeping themselves by the shoreline, most likely taking the toll of their loss as something heavy as well, and were recuperating for the time being. Taking that as a sign of good luck, Caesar led the apes deeper into the forest, while keeping the scouts on the lookout for any signs of danger.

Eventually the apes had all traversed back to their old home, walking through the burnt wood and shattered things of what they all had built upon. Apparently, Grey knew of a place that could keep the apes safe for a long while. It was very much further into the woods than they were all used to. However, if they wanted to keep their lives for the time being then this new area was their best bet. There were no objections from Caesar and many of the other members of the ape council. Keeping families and the colony safe for now was their single priority and if this was going to help them any way, they were going to take it wherever it came from.

So here they were, back upon the ruins of their old home, after a few days, to gather what they can of any useful things. To finally say goodbye to the single place of freedom, the place they call home, for the past ten winters. It is also here now, that Koba stood atop of what was left of his very own abode. Looking back down, Koba could see nothing but piles of burnt wood and other things that was lost in the fire. Bending down to scrounge with what he could salvage, a soft footstep made themselves known behind him, causing Koba to turn around immediately and brace himself.

To Koba's surprise, his golden-green eye met the leafy greens of Cornelia's who took in a small gasp and stood still, with little Cornelius in her arms. As his body slowly relaxed, Koba quickly turned away from his friend and queen, ashamed that she was seeing him looking like this.

"Koba?"

" _You should not be here. Dangerous,_ " Koba grunt gestured.

The queen however, was not one to listen and Koba could practically feel Cornelia edging on closer, right until she was standing right before him. He then felt Cornelia's gentle hand lifting his head up by the chin, so that their eyes met.

" _Dangerous of what, Koba?_ " Cornelia asked curiously.

Koba huffed and his gaze looked past the queen for a moment, seeing the other apes glaring at him before meeting Cornelia's eyes once more.

"Of me," he growled out lowly and indicated by tapping his own chest.

Cornelia glanced behind her, seeing several of the other apes disperse before turning back to Koba, silently looking at him.

"You. Going to. Hurt me. Koba?" Cornelia asked curiously.

At this line of question the scarred bonobo faltered momentarily before Koba lowered his head and shook it. He then felt Cornelia's finger lifting his head up by the chin once more and she looked him over once, her face laced in concern. There she could see that the older male had many bruises that formed on his face. Along with that, it looked like he had wiped away at his nose, leaving a smear of dried blood across his cheek. These were fresh wounds for sure and something that could not be easily hidden from her.

" _Koba, did the other apes do this to you?_ " Cornelia asked as she touched the bigger male's cheek, causing Koba to flinch away from her.

" _Is there something you need?_ " Koba asked instead with an annoyed huff.

Cornelia slowly brought her hand back close to her and held her still sleeping child within her arms. She couldn't help but felt for Koba, seeing how badly he is injured right now. She knew that it was going to be difficult for the apes to accept Koba when he had come back but she had not expected them to outright attack him. There had been several bouts earlier before and both Caesar and Rocket had to step in many a times. But with everyone being so busy and Caesar and the others elsewhere, there was no one to stop the fights or if there were, did the other apes want to? After what Koba had did to them?

"Why. Koba?" Cornelia breathed quietly. "Why do. This?"

Hearing this, Koba couldn't help himself as his hackles rose and his face scrunched up.

" _Because the humans deserved it!_ " Koba gestured angrily with a huff. " _It is because of humans that apes are always in danger! Always hurt! If humans were gone then we would all be safe!_ "

" _Would we?_ " Cornelia signed back slowly, causing Koba to freeze. " _Apes not good too. I remember when I was small that the older apes would fight each other. Kill each other even. It was a dangerous time back then, as it is now as well,_ " Cornelia explained as she cradled Cornelius and her features softened.

" _That… Is different,_ " Koba replied slowly.

" _Even if it was Pope? And the apes that had left Caesar and the others behind? Is that different?_ " Cornelia asked, stunning Koba in place.

The beaten up bonobo then turned away from the chimpanzee queen, flustered at what she had just told him. Koba then felt Cornelia's gentle hand upon his cheek and she turned his head back to her. She met his gaze and simply offered him a soft smile.

"You saved human. Too," Cornelia said softly, noticing Koba's eyes grow a little bigger.

"N-no," Koba grunted, stepping away from the smaller female.

"Yes," Cornelia whispered back. " _You saved the human who had disappeared yesterday, did you not? The one that came to us. Helped me. Helped Caesar. The one who wanted peace. The one who found you and helped you?_ "

Koba frowned at the queen but Cornelia continued, ignoring his his angry stare.

" _You may say that you hate humans. Say that they deserve to be hurt. But deep down. You still care. Do you not?_ "

Seeing Cornelia's hand signs, Koba angrily turned his gaze elsewhere and shut his eyes tightly as yesterday's events came flooding back into him.

It was the evening when Tinker had came back with the small prince in her arms, reunited with her family and later the apes were slowly settling back down. The apes had gathered as Blue Eyes, Ash, Ray and Rocket told the apes of their journey down south, about what had happened to them. Off to the side, Koba sat alone by some of the fallen logs, watching from afar as the young prince explained to all of the apes about their discovery of more humans. This did not bode well with Koba himself and he couldn't help but growl disgustingly at the mention of more humans. But he watched on, still curious about what had happened to them.

Soon enough it was time for the apes to start nesting again and they all went to their separate sleeping areas. While the other apes avoided him, Koba was just about to turn out as well, but something had caught his peripheral. Even if blinded in one eye, Koba could still make out the faint white object moving away from the apes, disappearing between the trees. Knowing that this could be some kind of threat, Koba turned around to warn the others. He however stopped himself when he realized that neither of the apes would trust him anymore. Given by the fact that most resented him or basically avoided him when he had returned. Maybe Caesar and the others could go with him but then again, they had been avoiding him too and he just wasn't sure on what to do.

Frustrated in his predicament, Koba glanced about and noticed that there were some of the Gorilla Guards and Warriors still awake and keeping a lookout among the troops. Scouring the area, Koba soon laid eyes upon one of the chimpanzee lookouts who was silently dozing off. Silently making his way on over to where the other ape was resting, Koba looked around himself before he gently pried the warrior chimp's weapon out out of his arms. There was a few times, Koba thought that the sleeping ape was going to wake, but luckily the chimp merely readjusted himself and went back to simply resting. Once Koba had attained the gun, he looked it once over before silently sneaking off into the darkness of the forest.

While he followed whatever that thing was, Koba finally knew that the thing was indeed a human who was spying on them and this caused his blood to boil. He pointed the end of his gun at the moving object and was about to pull the trigger but stopped when he noticed the human in the white clothing suddenly disappearing out of sight. Confused, Koba slowly made his way slowly through the dark foliage to see where the human had disappeared to. As he tread carefully forward, Koba's eye widened when he noticed the flickering of fire light dancing through the darkness. Koba hadn't realize that they've gone so far from the apes already as he glanced backwards from where they came from.

Turning his sights back to where the human camp was, Koba could see the human in the white shirt walking towards the soldiers. Frowning, Koba recognized that stupid human. The one that is of Ellie's mate. Why was he going to the humans? Was he planning to betray them? If he was, Koba himself was not going to allow that to happen and he aimed his weapon at the stupid human's back, his finger already slowly pulling on the trigger to fire. As much as he has grown close to Ellie, if her mate was going to put them all in danger, then Koba was not going to make sure that the apes were safe first.

As he aimed his gun at the man's back, Koba bared his fangs as he was about to pull the trigger and then, nothing. For a moment, while Koba was up there in the tree, he merely heaved in on himself, still sitting in that same position with his gun pointed at the man's back. Closing his mouth and taking a big gulp of air, Koba tried again, to fire his gun at the man. But nothing happened. Soon enough, Koba found that his arm was shaking quite badly and he quickly brought his arms back close to his body and leaned into the tree. Closing his eyes, he tried to still his fast beating heart and couldn't understand why he couldn't kill that stupid human. A few months ago he would have had no qualms with killing that human, but now… Why was he hesitating now?

Koba knew naught how long he had stayed like that for as the next thing he remembered was the voices of several humans nearby. Opening back up his eyes, Koba glanced down at the edge of the beach and could see the stupid human standing across from a few of the soldiers. There was one of them in particular who was wearing something on his head and had dark rings on over his eyes. Koba knew those, they were some sort of eye wear that humans use, but those dark ones were rarely seen by him. However, within a matter of moments, he was surprised when the soldier suddenly pointed a gun at the stupid human. Cocking his head to the side, Koba observed carefully as the human with the sunglasses said something aloud slowly.

Grunting in satisfaction, Koba turned around, now knowing that the other human was basically doing his job for him. But as he made to leave, Koba could hear the stupid human yelling behind him, causing him to pause momentarily. Turning back slightly, Koba watched as the man in the white shirt basically yelled at the other humans, saying many things that Koba didn't quite understand himself but could see the genuine desperation within the stupid human's hand movements. Then he heard it loud and clear.

"The apes… They don't want war at all. They want nothing but peace. To stop this senseless fighting. If we don't start changing now, then we humans should be doomed as a species."

Then all was silent.

Koba again was baffled by this stupid human, not quite understanding why he would go to such great lengths to defend them. It just didn't make any sense to him. What did the stupid human get out of defending the apes? It confused him to no end.

With a blink of an eye, Koba then saw the human soldier pointing his pistol straight at the stupid human's head. The human with the sunglasses was fast but Koba was faster. Without thinking about it, Koba aimed his weapon and fired, letting the bullet fly true, as it struck the human in the arm, causing him to grunt and cradle his wounded limb close to his body. Before Koba could react, the tree he was in, suddenly kicked up debris all over him, causing him to duck for cover. Growling in annoyance, he quickly pointed his gun outwards and fired it again before he leaped down at the ground and rolled off to the side, quickly disappearing within the dark thicket.

More gunfire could be heard as Koba hid among bushes of the ground, wildly looking around as shadows appeared all around him. While he looked around himself, Koba could see something glowing white darting through the forest. Growling, Koba chased after it and within a few seconds he pounced upon the stupid human, who yelped in surprise.

"Quiet!" Koba hissed through gritted teeth as he placed his hand over the struggling human's mouth to keep him from blabbering and giving away their position.

Lifting back up his head, Koba could distinctly hear the voices of the human soldiers all around them, all yelling into the night. Breathing heavily, Koba reached back down and grabbed the stupid human by the shirt and yanked hard, ripping the fabric off of the man.

"Hey what're you-"

Koba gave the dumb human a warning bark to shut him up before he balled up the torn white clothing and lobbed it off into the distance.

"Be quiet and follow," Koba ordered in a hushed tone as he slunk off deeper into the dark thicket, the man sluggishly following.

As soon as they were far away from the beach as possible and within the safe boundaries of the inner Muir Woods, Koba turned around and roughly shoved Malcolm into a tree.

"What was stupid human doing!" Koba demanded.

Grunting and recovering from that rough shove, Malcolm rubbed his shoulder as he tried to get back up but was pushed back down again. Sighing, Malcolm held onto his arm and slowly lifted his head so that he was looking right at Koba. From his vantage point, Malcolm could see Koba's face, outlined just by the slight luminescence from the moon.

"I was trying to help Caesar and the apes stop this war," Malcolm whispered back.

"You think those humans will listen?" Koba asked as he pointed back in the direction from where they came from. "Humans kill apes. Humans kill humans. What makes you think. That they will listen to you?"

"Because we have the capability to change," Malcolm answered.

"Humans can not, change," Koba growled back.

"Yes. They can. Much like you," Malcolm replied, seeing Koba physically take a step back from his words. "I agree, some humans can't change, but given time and their environment, they have the capacity to do so. Just like you."

The whites of Koba's teeth could be seen as he opened his mouth several times to retort but whatever he tried to say to the stupid human, nothing came out. Instead he growled and turned away from Malcolm, fuming on the spot.

After a long while the two decided to move through the dark forest again. To get as far away from the beach as possible and return to the safety of the apes.

"Thank you," Malcolm spoke up, causing Koba to stop and turn around to look at him. "For saving my life."

Koba merely narrowed his eyes at Malcolm and grunted in response before turning back around and leading the way once more. Unbeknownst to the scarred bonobo though, was the genuine smile upon Malcolm's lips as he followed.

Eventually the two made it back to the ape camp and was immediately taken in by the patrolling apes. The two were questioned on what they were doing out from the safety of the group, with many of the warriors stating that Koba was causing trouble yet again. However Malcolm was the one to stand up and announce that everything was his fault, causing everything to be silent once more. He then proceeded to explain that he had snuck away from the apes, to hopefully discuss a form of peace with the human soldiers. Ultimately though, that plan had failed as he stated that he thought that maybe he could change the minds of those soldiers.

"But… If it wasn't for Koba who trailed after me. I would not be standing here right now," Malcolm said aloud, turning to look at the scarred bonobo.

There was another wave of chatter and everyone was instantly silenced by Caesar, who raised a hand to quiet them all.

"It is late. We are all still tired from the fighting. We will discuss more tomorrow," he informed.

With that announcement made, everyone slowly dispersed and went to their sleeping quarters. Malcolm went on over to where his family was and Ellie immediately started to patch up the man's arm wound, from where he was shot.

As Koba went back to his secluded spot to turn in for the rest of the night someone had followed him back to his nest. Turning around to face whomever it was, Koba was surprised to see Ellie standing there, tears streaming down her face.

"Ellie? Something wrong-"

Before the bonobo could even finish, the woman threw her arms around the scarred ape and hugged him tightly, surprising him so.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Koba," Ellie's voice could be heard saying over and over again as she wept into the bonobo's shoulder.

Not knowing on how to handle this, nor what to do, Koba instead exhaled tiredly and hugged Ellie in return, softly patting her back.

"You are welcome," Koba responded as he pulled away after a little while.

Upon seeing Ellie's teary joyful face, Koba couldn't help but offer a small smile at the human woman before he return to his usual frown.

"Go. Go to your family," Koba said quietly with a head nod in the direction of where the other two humans were waiting for her. "They need you now."

"Thank you. Thank you again, Koba," Ellie thanked as she walked away.

Watching her go, Koba heaved out a deep sigh and went back to his lonely nest, away from the other apes. Laying himself in, Koba looked up at the treetop and soon enough, his heavy eyelids fell and sleep came for him.

As the memory faded, Koba was silent for a long time as he stood there with Cornelia.

" _I owe that human family my life,_ " Koba stated simply as he idly scratched at his forearm. "Nothing else."

Upon hearing Koba, Cornelia couldn't help but smile a little at him. Gingerly, she reached out and touched Koba's shoulder, causing him to slowly turn his head back to her.

" _Other apes have already left us. Many of the elders has talked about this and the apes who has no one left... have already chosen to leave,_ " Cornelia explained sadly.

"And what do you think of this?" Koba asked.

" _I think that we should not split. That we apes standing together is what makes us strong, but now… Now we are hurt and broken. That is why we are separating and I understand that. As much as I want them to stay, I cannot force them to. It would not be right. Many of our females, whose mates and sons were banished, or had flee for their lives, they will not stay. They have already decided to leave and seek their loved ones,_ " Cornelia explained as she cradled the still sleeping Cornelius closer to her bosom.

Koba however was silent as he watched the queen cradling her son.

"Why you stay. Koba? Why face. Hurt and pain. From other apes?" Cornelia asked as she turned her lime green eyes back up to the bonobo.

Koba blinked back and met Cornelia's gaze. He blinked once and his mind went immediately blank as he tried to come up with an answer for her.

"I-I," Koba stuttered.

But try as he might though, nothing else would come out that would give him any define reason to keep on staying with the apes.

Seeing the bonobo struggle to come up with an answer for her, Cornelia tilted her head when she noticed that Koba's eyes darted off to the side for a moment before they were forced back down to the ground. Curiously, she followed his gaze and noticed that he had spotted Caesar in the distance, directing the other apes on what to do. She was confused at first but then everything clicked into place within her mind. She couldn't help but turn back towards Koba and smiled warmly at him, causing the wounded bonobo to this time look at her in confusion.

"You do not need to say. I understand, Koba," Cornelia said simply as she reached out and gently touched his shoulder.

With that said by the female, Cornelia finally left the bonobo alone, who watched her take her leave while he idly scratched at his chest, just above his beating heart.

…

"So long... Since we have. Been back here," Glade spoke quietly with a big smile as he sat behind Winter and was grooming the white haired gorilla.

" _Home. Our home. Gone now,_ " Winter gestured solemnly as he slowly looked about.

The white gorilla stood up and then lumbered on over to where the teaching area was. As he approached Maurice's teaching school, Winter could see the dried blood stains that streaked across the their sacred law.

Ape not kill ape.

Winter then felt someone touching his arm, causing him to break away from the scene and turn to the ape by his side.

" _Ajax was a good ape. He died doing his duty. He shall be remembered,_ " Glade signed slowly, his wet soulful eyes upon their old teaching school area.

"Ajax was. Like brother. To me," Winter huffed, a couple of tears escaping his eyes. " _I can't believe he's gone now…_ "

Glade's brows furrowed as he kept his grip upon the younger gorilla's arm, hoping that it would bring the bigger ape some kind of comfort at least. Everything that has happened to them, after the humans had came into their lives. It had all ended up in nothing but death and tragedy. Something Glade himself thought that would never occur within their lifetime. But like the changing seasons and weather, this is something that they had no control over and all they could do is just adapt and change with it.

"Come, Winter," Glade tugged on the albino gorilla's arm.

Silently, Winter followed suit after the smaller ape and was led away from Ajax's final moments when he was alive. Winter didn't want to think about it, but he hoped that at least when Ajax had died, he was brought with some kind of comfort in his last moments.

While the two were walking away from the old teaching area, where Ajax's final resting place was, Glade felt a small nudge to his shoulder, causing him to look up at the timid gorilla.

"Winter?" Glade asked curiously.

" _When I was here. With the apes here and with Juno. We… talked. About our differences. I remember you telling me. That sometimes being different… is not weakness. But something good,_ " Winter repeated as he glanced up at the sky through the trees, remembering his talk with the withered arm chimp. " _Juno and I talked about it. About what it means and what you meant by it. But then Juno said something funny. He said that he knows why you said it to me,_ " Winter continued and then stopped as they were off to the edge of the colony now, just far enough from the other apes.

The white haired gorilla then turned to face the bonobo walking beside him whom had also stopped as well.

" _What did you mean, when you told me this?_ " Winter asked apprehensively.

The bonobo simply blinked up at Winter a couple of times, seeing the uneasiness upon the gorilla's face. However, a big wide smile slowly enveloped Glade's face and he reached up towards Winter. The smaller ape took a hold of the white haired gorilla's face and pulled it down. Winter was expecting for them to touch foreheads again but was genuinely surprised with his lips were met with Glade's. The bonobo's lips felt velvety soft upon his own leathery ones. Too shocked to move at what had just happened, Winter stared wide eyed as Glade slowly moved back and tenderly brought their foreheads together this time.

"That. Is why," Glade whispered.

Hesitantly, Winter reached up and touched at his lips, still shocked at what had just happened. Glade however gave Winter a small smirk but waited for the gorilla to comprehend on what just happened.

" _You… what was that?_ " Winter gestured slowly, still in shock.

Glade however tilted his head to the side and simply kept a smile upon his face, waiting for the gorilla. Winter sat down with a loud thump and touched at his lips again, drawing his hand back and look at it to see if there was something upon his fingers.

" _Why did you do that?_ " Winter asked curiously.

Glade simply pant-chuckled, confusing Winter even more before the bonobo shyly looked away.

"Because. Glade. Likes you," the bonobo spoke up as he placed a hand over his own chest. "Because Gla-... because I. Am different."

Winter simply met the bonobo's eyes and after being told this, he simply didn't know what to do nor say. However, he did know one thing. Ever since he had met the bonobo, he's felt nothing but warmth and content from the other ape. Glade was nothing but loving and kind to him, the true nature of the bonobo species.

"How. Long?" Winter asked curiously.

The bonobo offered the albino gorilla a congenial smile.

"Long time. Very. Long time," Glade answered.

…

Watching Cornelia take her leave and being left alone once more, Koba carefully bent down and picked up a fur pelt and looked down at it. There was the head shape of a bear, the very same bear he killed to save both Blue Eyes and Caesar during their hunt so many moons ago. The pelt was all but destroyed, leaving only a partial head within the scarred bonobo's hands.

Had it really been that long? He guessed it must have, since with how everything was all but in ruins now.

"Koba?"

At the sound of his name, Koba quickly rounded himself and was surprised to see Caesar standing just a few steps away from him.

"Caesar?"

Caesar slowly made his way on over to where the scarred bonobo was and stood next to him. The both of them were silent, simply looking around at their surroundings, unsure of how to start things.

"Home," Caesar spoke up suddenly, causing Koba to snap his head towards him. "This was our home. A home for all apes. All different in our own ways. All hurt, young and old. Living together. In peace." he continued but the paused. "That is all gone now.

Koba couldn't help himself as he lowered his head in shame at Caesar's words, knowing well that he was partly the cause of it all.

"Because of me-"

"But we must move on," Caesar interrupted the bonobo, causing Koba to glance up at him.

Caesar did not look at Koba, but kept his eyes upon the apes in the distance. Eventually, Caesar closed his eyes and relaxed his body. As Koba watched curiously, he could see how Caesar looked a lot older than he actually was. Bearing the stress of caring not just for his family but for all of the apes as well. The stress taking a toll on the chimpanzee who must have been no more than a couple years younger than he himself. Slowly Caesar opened back up his eyelids and slowly turned to look at Koba, who stiffened slightly, under the ape king's gaze.

"The apes. They hurt you again?"

Koba didn't answer but his gaze lowered and he turned away slowly.

"I'm sorry. My friend," Caesar spoke genuinely. "For hurting you. For not listening to you. For not helping you."

Taking a couple of breaths, Koba looked off down to the side as he took all of this in, unable to describe all these feelings within him. It made him want to yell, to shout, to scream and to cry at the chimpanzee standing before him, for not listening to him. But yet, it also made his respect, his devotion, and his heart grow evermore towards the other ape for being acknowledged.

"Sorry," Koba shuddered out. "I'm sorry. Too. So, sorry," he continued, his nose flaring and eyes becoming wet. "Did not mean. For this to happen. I-I…" Koba stuttered before finally turning his gaze upon Caesar. "I wanted to protect our apes. To protect our family. And to protect yo-"

Koba immediately stopped himself and shook his head, as if clearing his thoughts. He held his arms close to his body before he stretched out a supplicating palm towards Caesar and held it there.

"Forgive me."

Caesar looked down at Koba's outstretched palm and slowly, he brought his hand up and closed the bonobo's opened palm with his, surprising the other ape.

"That is not for me to make," Caesar spoke quietly, meeting Koba's gaze. "My fault too."

Koba curiously drew back his hand and couldn't make out what Caesar had meant. What did he mean when he said that, that was not his choice to make? Did Caesar not forgive him? Or did he already forgive him? He wasn't quite sure.

Caesar however, cleared his throat and stood up straight once more.

" _I should have listened to you. The humans. They would have come for us eventually. No matter how long we lived in peace. No matter how much we wanted it. Humans and apes… both are unable to live with each other. For now,_ " Caesar gestured.

With a deep breath, Koba dropped the bear pelt within his left hand onto the ground, deciding that maybe a change of subject should suffice for the time being.

" _What do we do now?_ " Koba asked instead. " _We have nowhere else to go._ "

There was a long silence between the both of them and eventually, Caesar turned to regard Koba once more.

"Then we find a new home, Koba. Safe from humans. Time is very hard ahead now but together, we could face it," Caesar answered. "Apes. Together. Strong."

Koba stared long into the chimpanzee's golden-green hues with his own and milky colored ones. But Koba closed his eyes momentarily before opening them back up again.

"Apes. Together. Strong," Koba repeated those words softly.

Caesar then reached out and took a firm hold of Koba's shoulder, with Koba doing the same.

"Koba?" Caesar spoke up after a long silence.

"Yes, Caesar?"

"I must ask you to do something for me."

Koba met Caesar's gaze once more and could seen the sincerity within those eyes. He huffed and nodded.

"What do you ask of me, Caesar?"

…

Days after the events on the bridge the apes had finally settled down again after their long journey through the woods. Many of them settled around in small groups and there was a much larger one around a bigger bonfire. Those apes consisted of the royal family and their closest friends and allies. Off to the side though, stood a lone orangutan, with a dash of yellow hair, observing them all silently.

"Hey, just watching?"

At the sound of the voice, Ray slowly turned his head up to look at Alex who was leaning onto the tree next to him. The orangutan was silent but he nodded to confirm what the young human male was thinking aloud.

"Where did you go? I didn't see you after we separated when we got back."

"Keeping apes. Safe."

"Oh… had to do your job huh?"

"Apes. still not safe. With human soldiers. Nearby,"

"I get what you mean," Alexander sighed as he leaned his back onto the tree with Ray standing right next to him.

The two of them were like that for a few heartbeats before Alex tapped Ray on the shoulder.

"Why don't you join'em?" Alexander finally asked.

"Not. Belong," Ray spoke up after a few quiet moments, causing the human teen to curiously glance down at the orangutan.

"What do you mean. Not belong?" Alexander questioned more hesitantly this time.

"Ray. Not belong here," Ray spoke quietly. "Apes. in peace. Now. But. Apes. Will fight. When time comes," Ray continued to explained a sense of sorrow emanating from his voice. "That. Not for Ray. Caesar's path. Blue Eyes' path. Rocket's path. Not Rays."

Alexander stared at the younger orangutan for a long while before it dawned on him on what the little ape was referring to.

"You're leaving... Aren't you?"

The younger orangutan fully face Alexander, offering the human teen a gentle warm smile in the process.

"But… You'll be alone. Out there in the world. It'll be dangerous for you."

"Not alone," Ray spoke quietly.

Ray then looked behind them, with Alexander following the orangutan's gaze. There they could see a few other apes emerging from the darkness as well. Alexander didn't recognize a couple of the apes there. He noted that one of them had a fully white ear, the other had some darker shades to his body and finally, he recognized the much bigger one - Fox eyeing him but turned to look at Ray and nodded.

" _Our families are ready to go. Ready to find us a new home, far away from here,_ " Fox gestured with the moon's light.

"W-with them?" Alex asked, slowly turning back to look down at Ray.

"Many apes. Not want fight anymore," Ray spoke up. "Apes… Seek peace. Far away. Over mountains. Beyond forest. Find new homes. For us," Ray said slowly as he gestured towards the distance.

Alexander looked at the other apes and could see the loss and fear within their eyes, but in the moonlight he could make out something akin to hope as well. When he turned to meet Ray's dark green eyes, the teen could definitely see the determination and hopefulness within the younger apes gaze. Alex lowered his head and couldn't help himself as he balled up his fists and shook slightly.

"If… this is what you are striving for. Then I'm not going to stop you, or the other apes. You guys… Like my dad said. You all deserve a chance and I wish you all good luck," Alexander spoke quietly.

The teen then bent down and hugged the smaller ape tightly, feeling his own heart beat within his chest.

"I'm going to miss you, Ray. Be safe okay?" Alexander whispered as he hugged the smaller ape tightly

"Will remember you. Alex. Always." Ray said softly as he slowly pulled away.

The two stood there for a long time and after a little while, Ray and the others turned from the fire, from their friends and family and everything they had ever known, and went to find their peaceful new home.

Alexander watched as Ray, Fox and the other apes that had came to join them, slowly disappeared into the forest, knowing well that they will never ever return. As soon as the last ape disappeared into the darkness, Alex finally let his tears fall from his eyes. He had only known Ray for a little while but he felt as if he had just lost a little brother of sorts, knowing that they both had many things in common. But he understood why Ray and the others would leave as well. This was a war that they were all in and it was either fight or flight and for now, Ray and the others had decided to find peace elsewhere, wherever that may be. Alex just hoped that wherever Ray was going, that it will bring him joy. Something that would not end in pain and loss for him, like it was here.

Eventually, after accepting that they have now officially parted ways, Alexander got back up and made the silent trek back to his tent. The tent where his mother and father was. Once he was there he was embraced by his two parents and they had asked if he was alright. He however simply smiled, informing them that he was simply tired and needed rest. The two grown ups had looked at one another but stepped aside and allowed the teen to enter his own tent. Slipping into his sleeping bag, Alexander laid there for a long while, just simply listening to what was going on right outside of his tent. He could hear the apes murmuring and the crackle and pops of their bonfires. Finally as sleep came for him, Alexander finally closed his eyes and smiled sadly to himself.

"Goodbye."


	42. Chapter 42

"Caesar, we could still stay and help," Malcolm spoke up, standing next to his horse.

Caesar raised a hand to the human and shook his head slowly.

"You have done enough. My friend. You and your family must leave. Seek other humans. Tell them of apes who only want peace. Please," Caesar responded.

Malcolm took in a deep breath and let out a long drawn out sigh. He then looked around and met the eyes of his family and their traveling companions before meeting the ape king's gaze once more. Straightening himself up, Malcolm then walked on over to where Caesar stood and stood before him. For a moment the two stood like that for a long while before Malcolm finally reached out and embraced Caesar strongly.

"Goodbye, Caesar. My friend. Please be safe," Malcolm said quietly.

"You be safe too, Malcolm. And goodbye," Caesar responded.

After both Caesar and Malcolm released each other, Ellie and Alexander both walked up to the ape king as well and before anything could be said, Ellie, like Malcolm before her, wrapped her arms gently around the ape king and hugged him.

"Goodbye, Caesar. Please be safe. You, your family and the rest of the apes," Ellie spoke quietly before releasing Caesar and doing the same with Cornelia.

Alexander however merely shook hands with Caesar at first before the ape king himself, pulled the young teen into a strong hug as well.

"Thank you. All of you. For helping and caring us apes. We will not forget you. All of you," Caesar spoke up.

"And we, you," Malcolm answered as he held onto both Alexander and Ellie firmly.

...

Both Rocket and Ash were both being held onto by Tinker, who was busy wiping away at her eyes and giving her two boys very strong hugs.

" _You eat and take care of yourself, Ash,_ " Tinker doted on her bigger son before she turned to her mate. " _Rocket, look after Ash and Blue Eyes. They are depending on you._ "

"Yes, mother," Ash pant chuckled as he hugged his mother before releasing her.

Ash then noticed Maple waiting expectedly for him and he gave his mother one final hug and forehead touch before he made his way on over to where the brown haired female stood. Walking up to Tinker, Rocket merely smiled and gently kissed Tinker upon the lips before he too hugged embraced her strongly as well.

"Maple!" Ash gestured happily as he stood in front of the brown haired female.

"Ash," Maple breathed as she stood there, her hands held close to her body.

Ash was confused and was about to ask what was wrong but then he was suddenly engulfed in a strong hug by Maple. Feeling her body trembling into his, Ash relaxed and slowly wrapped his arms around Maple and stroke her back.

"I. Will miss. You," Maple sniffed.

"I will. Miss you. Too," Ash replied as he hugged Maple a little tighter into his body.

The two chimps pulled away from each other and brought their lips together before touching foreheads. They both stayed like that for a moment before Maple leaned back in and placed her head upon Ash's chest, hearing the strong thumps of his heartbeat beneath his breast. Now she understood why her mother did this. The sound of the beating heart, was like that of the drums that they strum for times of great celebrations. Except this one was constant and let her know that everytime it thumped, it pulsed with life, the life of her beloved.

"Ash, you come back. To me?" Maple asked hesitantly, turning her head up to look into leafy green eyes.

"Yes. Will come back. To you," Ash answered in a low soft voice.

The two chimps gently kissed each other once more before they both walked away, in each other's hands.

...

"Son?"

Blue Eyes turned at his father's voice and waited expectantly for the older ape to say more. Caesar opened his mouth, as if to continue to say something to the younger chimp, but in the end decided not to. Blue Eyes was a very much grown up male now and he was already branching out to be a wonderful heir and leader to the apes. Caesar himself couldn't believe how much Blue Eyes had grown in the past twenty moons, since his return with the others. Instead, Caesar carefully hugged his eldest son, after Cornelia did and pressed the both of their foreheads together.

" _I know that I do not need to tell you this. But take care of yourself, son._ "

" _Yes father, I will,_ " Blue Eyes gestured back with a small smile to his lips.

"Find us a new home. Our future lies with you."

Upon hearing this, Caesar noticed that Blue Eyes had a look of doubt upon his face and the younger chimpanzee looked hesitant for a moment.

"Father. What if I-"

"You will," Caesar interrupted Blue Eyes and held the younger chimp's gaze. " I know you will. Because you are my son," he finished.

Blue Eyes looked down to the side again, seeming to be in deep thought. That did not last long however, as the younger chimp took a deep breath and straightened his back, turning to meet his father's gaze once more.

"I will come back father," Blue Eyes spoke up, before turning to hugged his teary eyed mother. "I promise. I will come back to all of you."

Smiling, Caesar joined the family hug as well. He very much wished that they did have to part like this, after so soon of coming together like this. However, the forces of the world would not permit this for them. So, they cherished every last moment of it in what they can. After Blue Eyes was released from his mother and father, he reached out and let his little brother play with his fingers for a moment.

" _Be safe, little brother. Do not give mother and father a lot of trouble,_ " Blue Eyes gestured, earning a chirping laugh from Cornelius as he tickled the baby chimp.

While Blue Eyes was entertaining his little brother, he noticed his mother look behind him and she warmly smiled as she tapped his shoulder.

" _Look who is here, son._ "

Curiously, Blue Eyes followed his mother's gaze and soon found himself staring into evergreen hues. Silently, he walked on over to where the female was standing and stopped before her.

"Lake."

"Blue Eyes."

For a moment the two didn't speak nor sign to each other and simply just stared. Blue Eyes then breathed deeply from his nose and he leaned his head down, with Lake following suit, letting their foreheads touch one anothers.

" _You are leaving again, aren't you?_ " Lake gestured with small hand movements, finally turning her head up to look at Blue Eyes again.

Blue Eyes smiled sadly at Lake. It had only been about nineteen moons since he's come back, but during that time both he and Lake became more closer with one another. Everytime he would go help out in the skirmishes to stop the human soldiers from closing in or finding out where they were, he was always greeted by Lake who would worried run up to him and hug him. Eventually they stayed by each other's side longer and longer, only leaving each other's company when duty calls them, to fight and to heal. It pained Blue Eyes to see Lake looking like this. However, if things were to keep on going as it is, then they will definitely lose more than what they've already have. Caesar and the council had agreed that Blue Eyes, Ash and Rocket were to continue their journey again, while escorting Malcolm and his family to a safer place. There was objection to this of course, with Blue Eyes, Rocket and later Malcolm when he found out about it but the decision was final.

" _I have to go. Find us a new home. So that we do not live like this. Running and fighting for our lives everyday. Living in fear and wondering if we will be able to survive the next sunrise._ "

" _I know and understand, Blue Eyes. But you just came back,_ " Lake responded with slow sad hand movements, a couple of tears falling from her eyes as she turned her head down to the side.

Blue Eyes took a finger and slowly lifted Lake's face up so that they were staring at each other again.

"I will come back. To you," Blue Eyes said softly.

At this, Lake couldn't help but sniff as she wiped at her eyes once more and they both hugged each other lovingly once more. Knowing well that it might be a long time before they see each other again, if ever again if this way continues.

As they pulled back from each other, Lake reached under her ring of necklace that she wore and pulled out something. To Blue Eyes' surprise, he saw her pulling out a smaller necklace, this one made with a leathery rope. Tied to it though is a beautiful blue stone that varied in light to dark blue hues.

" _I found this, when we were in the human city. I thought of you when I picked it up. It had a different string made of silvery stones. But it broke, so I tied it with this,_ " Lake informed.

Blue Eyes stared at the stone in wonder before Lake held the loop open in front of him. Curiously blinking once, Blue Eyes stood still as Lake reached up and around his neck, tying the string so that the necklace stayed in place for him.

" _This is my gift to you, Blue Eyes. Be safe on your journey. And you come back to me_."

Reaching up to touch at the stone that hung over his chest, Blue Eyes met Lake's evergreen eyes and smile warmly at her.

"I will," he responded.

Letting go of the stone, Blue Eyes then wrapped his arms around Lake and embraced her lovingly once more, feeling her wrap her arms around his torso tightly.

Hearing the approach from behind, Blue Eyes finally turned around and could see his traveling companions waiting for him. There stood Ash and Rocket, the father and son duo who is yet again tasked to go with Blue Eyes' journey to find them their home. Right behind them were of course the three humans, whom they were suppose to lead away from the war, to a better place where they could tell the tales of the apes to other humans. Letting his gaze fall on over, Blue Eyes finally noticed their last companion - Koba.

Blue Eyes knew naught himself why his father had chosen for the bonobo to accompany them on their journey or even trusting the one eyed ape at all. However, Blue Eyes couldn't help himself as he could see the fresh new wounds that adorned the bonobo, knowing well that those bruises and scars did not come from their skirmishes with the human soldiers. Maybe, in a way, it was best for Koba to leave with them. Who knows what would happen to him if he stayed behind with the apes who still blame him for what he partially did. Sure his father would do his best to keep the apes form attacking the scarred ape, but how long would that last? So, maybe this journey that they are about to embark would ease the apes. Also, if Koba were to act out again, they did have Rocket who was keeping his piercing dark green eyes upon the bonobo. Feeling a soft squeeze on his hand, Blue Eyes met Lake's gaze once more and they both touched foreheads before they finally left to go join the others.

...

"You. Going. Too?" Grey asked.

From his spot, Koba turned to Grey incredulously, seeing that the brown haired chimpanzee was slowly making his way on over towards him.

" _What are you doing here? You should still be resting,_ " Koba gestured quickly, before he reached out and took a hold of the still healing ape.

Grey simply smirked in return once he was next to Koba's side.

" _And me laying down without seeing you and the others off? You should know me, Koba,_ " Grey chuckled gently as he gestured back.

Koba huffed but couldn't help but meet Grey's smirking face with his own as well. Turning to look back at the others, Koba took in a deep breath. He couldn't believe it's already been about twenty moons, since his return. During that time, Grey had led them all to a hidden waterfall, to which the apes could all hide for the duration of the fight with the human soldiers. They have had some skirmishes with the humans, with both sides losing fellow men and apes alike in the process. However, they were able to keep the humans from finding where they were at. Now, since Grey is doing a lot better now and no longer needing Ellie and Malcolm's medicine, Caesar deemed it time that they leave for safety.

" _I wish Stone was here to see this. To see you go and help the apes,"_ Grey gestured.

At the mention of Stone, Koba frowned inwardly. Caesar was the one who informed both he and Grey of Stone's fate and the two apes mourned for the loss of the friend, who among with many others, fell during this war.

"I did not want to go. I really wanted to stay. Stay and help Caesar, you and the other apes fight the human soldiers," Koba gestured slowly. "I don't understand why Caesar would be sending me away."

Unbeknownst to Koba, Grey had kept a critical eye upon his scarred friend. Even if he was wounded as such, he still had eyes and ears that worked well and from what he's seen from the other apes, Koba didn't really know that they all very much hated him still. Hate… That feeling for which is so strong, that it very much so overbearing. Especially to the lives of the apes that had still decided to stay and fight. Maybe the reason Koba was being sent away by Caesar was most likely that the bonobo's presence did more harm than good. That was just his speculations of things of course, who really knows. Instead Grey kept up his smile, turning back to face Koba and patting the scarred bonobo on the shoulder.

" _Whatever the reason is. You, Rocket, Ash and our prince, be safe,_ " Grey gestured back. " _We are now depending upon you._ "

" _Not much I can do,_ " Koba gestured with a frown but huffed with a smile, " _but, we will._ "

Koba then climbed up upon his horse and turned to look at his other traveling companions momentarily before finally turning back to look down at Grey.

" _You be safe too, my friend,_ " Koba gestured to the brown haired chimp, to which Grey merely grunted with a smirk in reply.

…

As they all got on each of their horses, the traveling crew of seven all looked upon what was left of the ape colony, whom all stared back with hopeful gazes. Everyone was deathly silent, not knowing exactly what to say in this situation. For a moment Caesar simply stared at the small group and was about to speak, until Blue Eyes cleared his throat first and held his fists together.

"Apes. Together. Strong!" he said aloud.

There was a rumble of hoots and cheers from the apes of the colony and they all followed suit with their prince, all holding their fists together to show their unity. To show that they were all in this together, till the very bitter end.

Meeting the proud gazes of both his parents and beloved, Blue Eyes stared at them for a long while before he gestured a goodbye to all of them and turned his horse around, to leave on their journey. Following suit, the traveling companions also joined the blue eyed prince as he lead the way out of the forest to lead the humans to a safe destination and find the apes a new safe home.

Instead of looking forward, Koba turned his head back around and looked at Caesar as his horse followed the others. The both of them made eye contact, Caesar's gaze looking calm while Koba's looked hesitant. Koba's mind and body was telling him to defy Caesar's request to go. To stay and fight with the ape he's come to admire and love all those years ago. However, the longer he stared into Caesar's golden-green eyes the more it felt as if his king and friend was telling him to trust him. To believe in him and take this journey, away from the fighting. As much as his heart ached, Koba knew that this is what his Caesar wanted and if that is what he wanted for him, then he will do this without question. No matter how much it hurt him.

So, Koba kept his single working golden-green optic upon the chimpanzee king as he slowly rode away. He looked at the other apes that were staying behind as well. He could see Maurice, looking calm and hopeful for them. He noticed Luca standing tall and strong, ready to defend the apes at any given notice. He could see both Cornelia and Tinker, tearfully watching them go, holding onto each other for comfort. He saw Grey and Andy and their respective families, watching them move forward. He then took in the looks of all of the apes that were watching them go. Finally his gaze landed upon Caesar's again and they both held each other's gaze, until the trail dipped towards the left and their eye contact finally broke away from each others.

* * *

 **And Finally! It is the end of my run of the "Revelations" story line. I know it was a tad short and seems a bit rushed but if anyone is confused of anything or what has happened, do let me know and hopefully I can get it straightened out for you all.**

 **Anyways, I had a blast writing this, if you loved it, please do leave a comment or two. If not, that's alright too. Apologies to all who wanted the humans to stay, unfortunately this is a very Apes-centric story with the human characters playing only minor roles within it, but they are still very important to the story.**

 **I'll be slowly working on the next chapter which will detail an anthology of sorts, of what is happening or has happened during the 2 year time skip. I'd reckon it's only going to be one chapter with many different viewpoints of the apes within the story. After that, I'll go ahead and start on my version of "War for the Planet of the Apes," and hope you guys and gals stick with me till the very end too!**

 **Again, Thanks everyone to all who have read and left a comment here. You are all very much appreciated for taking the time out of your time to leave me some notes and or feedback. I can't thank you enough for that. Whelp, Happy Readings, Everyone!**


	43. Chapter 43

**Okay! Hello folks! Sorry for taking such a long time. I was in the middle of a move so I did not have time to go back to my story... Anyways, moving on. I am doing something a little different. As I have said before, I am doing an anthology of sorts and I didn't know what and how I wanted to present it. But since I have 8 chapters until I hit chapter 50, I'd thought why not just make 8 special chapters with titles within them. Now, there is no set time in these next 8 chapters and you guys can decide what order they are in. Like I said these 8 chapters will be an anthology of sorts and will be a little bit of something before we start War on chapter 50. I do hope you all like them. They will be short but hopefully enjoyable nonetheless. Without further adieu, please enjoy!**

* * *

-Goodbye-

Juno was at a lost as he stood there among the other apes while they all ran about, collecting what things they could. The withered arm chimp desperately looked around himself as apes of all shapes and sizes were passing him by, getting themselves ready. Feeling someone touch his shoulder Juno jumped and turned quickly to see who it was that had placed their hands upon him.

"Juno?" Glade breathed out in surprise as well when the frantic chimp spun on him.

"Glade," Juno breathed in relief, relaxing his posture before he gathered himself and eyed the bonobo with a smile.

The two apes embraced one another strongly before releasing themselves. After a couple of soft shoulder pats from Glade, Juno then noticed another ape standing right behind the bonobo.

" _Winter,_ " Juno greeted as well.

The albino gorilla smiled congenitally in return and simply reached out with his fist, tapping it against Juno's in greeting.

Glade had looked around at the other apes that were hurrying past them and slowly turned back to meet with Juno's gaze, frowning slightly at the chimpanzee before him.

" _Juno leaving?_ "

The withered arm chimp simply blinked once before he lowered his gaze and nodded slowly in response.

" _Father, Clarence and other elders said that it was too dangerous for apes to stay with Caesar. Apes who did not want to fight. Apes who are scared,_ " Juno explained. " _Tola says that we stay and fight. Bryn is unsure of what to do. But I…_ "

Both Glade and Winter waited for the chimpanzee to finish.

" _I am afraid. Do not want to fight,_ " Juno gestured desperately his eyes glazed over with unshed tears. "Apes fight. They get hurt. Then they die. Nothing good. Always bad," he continued.

The bonobo and albino gorilla glanced at one another and this time Winter moved up and reached out, lightly placing a knuckle upon Juno's shoulder.

" _I understand, Juno. I am scared too,_ " Winter agreed.

Juno sniffed and quickly rubbed at his face with the back of his arm for a moment before glancing back up at the other two.

" _You both come as well? With me and my family. To somewhere safe? To protect our future?_ " Juno asked, his face lighting up at the question.

Juno waited eagerly for his two friend's responses, hoping that they would indeed go with him and his family to a new home, a place where they could live in peace without all of the fighting. However, the longer Juno had stood there with the silent drawing out between them, the more this unsure feeling deep within his being emerged. At first Glade and Winter glanced at one another for a long moment before the smaller of the two finally turned his head back towards Juno's direction, offering a sad smile whilst shaking his head slowly.

" _Glade and Winter would like to go with you, Juno. But our place is here. With Caesar and the rest of the apes,_ " the bonobo gestured slowly.

"But. Humans. Dangerous," Juno breathed hesitantly, turning his head to and fro at the other two apes.

"Yes. Dangerous," Glade agreed in a soft voice. "That why. Glade and Winter. Stay," he continued. "So we keep danger here."

Juno turned to look at the albino gorilla who looked hesitant but it seems like Winter had decided to stay with Glade as well.

"You both. Stay?" Juno asked hesitantly.

Again, Glade was looking at Juno with those sad green eyes of his and he walked on over, giving the chimpanzee another warm hug.

"Glade and Winter. Stay," Glade responded as he released Juno and took a step back. "Stay. So danger. Do not follow."

Upon hearing this, Juno's chest felt like it had dropped to the ground. He had thought, even hoped that maybe, just maybe both Glade and Winter would go with him and his family. He literally had no other friends or companions, except his brothers and Oaka. But no matter how much he wished it or willed it, Glade and Winter's loyalties to Caesar and the rest of the apes were more. Juno understood though, this is their home, these are their friends and these apes are also their families. And these two before him, were going to stay here to keep the humans from chasing after them as much as they can.

While in the middle of his thoughts, Juno was interrupted when he heard a familiar call, causing both him and the others to look behind them. There they all could see Bryn making his way on over towards them, most likely to get Juno ready to leave. Rounding his head slowly back to the other two, Juno met their gazes and then offered a sad smile.

" _Must go now,_ " he gestured slowly before he regained his composure and straightened himself up. "Goodbye. My friends."

"Goodbye," Winter repeated, reached out and placing a knuckle upon Juno's chest. " _Will always remember you, Juno._ "

Glade however, reached out and embraced Juno, slowly rubbing his cheek with the other chimpanzee's.

"Glade. Will miss. You. Juno," the older bonobo said softly.

"Miss you. Too," Juno repeated as he held onto Glade a little tighter.

Glade then brought both of their foreheads together stood like that for a long while, until Bryn finally got there. When the two apes released each other, Glade watched as Juno glanced back and forth between him and Winter as a couple of tears finally fell from his eyes, mirroring Glade's.

" _Be safe. All of you,_ " Glade signed to the two brothers.

Juno watched as Bryn acknowledged the other two and gestured for them to be safe as well. His immediate older brother then gently reached out and touched his shoulder, offering him a reassuring smile. Huffing, Juno lowered his head for a moment once more before finally lifting his face up and smiling sadly at Bryn, Glade and Winter.

" _Farewell,_ " Juno signed.

" _Goodbye, Juno,_ " Winter gestured back.

With that final farewell between the four apes, Juno and Bryn finally left and followed their families to somewhere else. Somewhere beyond the forest of their home, out into the unknown, so that they can be safe and protect their future.

Winter sniffed quietly as he slowly turned to look at Glade who stood stock still. There the albino gorilla could see the older bonobo, quietly shedding tears as he watched the other apes leave. Winter remembered having the discussion with Glade, and asked if he had wanted to leave as well. As much as Glade had wanted to, had wished to, his loyalties to Caesar and the rest of the apes were too strong. If he could stay and fight to prevent the humans from following their friends, then that was what he had decided on. Glade had asked Winter himself to leave as well but the albino gorilla refused and stated that if the bonobo was staying, then so was he and nothing was said more between the both of them.

Reaching out, Winter then placed a hand upon Glade's shoulder, who the older ape simply reached up and placed his hand over the gorilla's.

" _We have to stay and fight. So that our friend may live free,_ " Glade signed.

Winter grunted and nodded with agreement as he turned to watch the two brother's forms disappearing in the distance. That is what they are going to do. They are going to stay and fight to protect their loved ones from being chased and hunted down. That is what they had resolved themselves to, and as long as Winter had Glade there with him, he was okay with it, no matter what.

Goodbye.


	44. Chapter 44

-Live And Forgive-

Sitting by himself on a tree branch, Ray's beady dark green eyes looked out at the land that spanned before him. From his point of view, the young orangutan could see an expanse of forest that stretched out far and wide, littered with oranges and reds. A color he was not so used to seeing as much but we welcomed anyways as it reminded him of the great summer days he had when he was smaller. The view was beautiful with the the chirping of the birds all but finally flying away to wherever they go when the world started to become cold.

Breathing contently, Ray then began to think about the time that they had first gotten here. They had travelled many days, heading towards the direction where the great sun rises from the land afar. Eventually, they came upon a forest, full of many different trees, streams and creatures as well. They've encountered some of the local wildlife, which consisted of smaller deer than they were used to, and bears that were smaller and darker in fur color. Eventually though, they all came to call this new place, this new land, their home. It is here where the tribe where Ray and the others had broken away from, had chosen to settle and make it as great as their old home.

Home…

At the thought of home, Ray frowned slightly. He wondered still, if this was the right choice for him to make. To suddenly pick up and leave Caesar, Blue Eyes, Ash and the rest of the apes like that. To leave everything he's ever known… behind. All that time he had spent with the others, befriending them, learning from them, especially from the humans. Was it worth it to leave all of that behind? But he really never did leave all that behind did he? He remembered Malcolm's stories about human cities, bigger than the ones they've seen. Remembered when he had encountered the place where most of their mothers and fathers had come from. Learned that humans were not the only ones capable of great evil and that they were very compassionate as well. All different, yet the same. Just like them. And just like them, some humans only wanted peace.

"Live and Forgive," Armand's words kept playing out within Ray's mind.

The elder human's words kept on playing over and over again, the sincerity laced within them.

Within the middle of his thoughts, Ray heard a few rustling sounds behind him, causing him to round his head to see what it was. To his surprise, Ray himself saw Fox emerging from the foliage and paused momentarily when they saw each other. The bigger chimp then huffed and limbered on over and

There was a rustle of noises and Ray turned his head slightly around, surprised to see Fox emerging from the leaves of the tree. He observed the bigger chimp limber on over and perched himself on a branch next to him. It had been a while since they had journeyed and Ray was bigger now as well. Not as bit as Fox or the others yet, but if he kept on at a healthy diet, he would definitely be bigger than the others. But that wouldn't be for another long while.

" _Looking out at our new home?_ " Fox asked.

"Yes," Ray answered as he turned his sights back to the orange and red colored forest before him.

Turning his sights back to Fox, Ray still couldn't believe that both he and the chimpanzee sitting next to him had become friends of some sort. Who would have thought that it was not that long ago that they were both at odds with each other, due to many differences but were finally seeing eye to eye, after their trip. It was a curious and odd thing to Ray but he welcomed it nonetheless. Happy to have called another ape his friend. Letting out a small whooping noise, Ray caught Fox's attention.

" _How was the hunt?_ " Ray had asked.

" _Hunt was well. Many deer to feed the tribe. Plenty of food and water to go around,_ " Fox grunted back, a little bit of pride showing upon his face.

" _That is good to hear. We must keep our families from starving,_ " Ray answered.

" _And how are things back here?_ " Fox inquired.

" _We have finished the teaching area and elder Gary has taken it upon himself to teach the young ones,_ " Ray replied. " _Many of the females are foraging very well and our worker apes are in the midst of building up a wall to fortify us, if danger were to come,_ " he continued. " _Jeanpierre is leading the apes well_ _with the other elders of the new council_ _._ "

" _He was there for most of Caesar's council,_ " Fox signed in.

" _As were many other apes,_ " Ray gestured back.

" _Yes. there were many others too,_ " Fox agreed, nodding slowly.

" _Many who believes that the fighting is no longer for them,_ " Ray concluded. " _Like us._ "

At that the both of them became silent. Discussing of what and why they had left was a hard topic. On one hand they wanted to stay with their friends and family but on the other they had to think about their future and how they will survive in all of this. Caesar believed that in order for the apes to survive, they must stay and fight. Caesar is a great leader and the first of their kind to start the revolt against the humans towards freedom. But it is now they all must think about and by fighting, it was not going to solve anything.

Sighing, Ray stared off into the distance once more before turning back to look at Fox, whose own features showed that he was still troubled at the thought. Figuring that it was probably not best to dwell on the subject, Ray decided to change it, moving forward and clicked his tongue to catch Fox's attention.

" _I noticed that Flora has been looking at you a lot lately,_ " Ray gestured at the other male, causing Fox to quirk his head at him.

" _Flora? As in Hook's sister?_ " Fox asked curiously.

" _Yes, the one with the red and brown hair colors on her arms and head. Almost like mine,_ " Ray chuckled lightly, as the other older ape thought about what he had just heard.

" _She's been watching me? When?_ " Fox inquired after a brief moment.

" _Many of times. But only when you are not paying attention,_ " Ray chuckled.

" _Is this true or are you playing a joke on me?_ " Fox frowned.

At this, Ray had let out a series of long whooping laughs that only orangutans could do. Fox on the other hand was not amused and simply stared back at Ray with a deadpan face.

" _I do not know. If you really want to know if this is true or not, you can go and ask Flora herself,_ " Ray joyfully gestured.

At this Fox did not know how to react and became flustered on the spot while Ray let out another series of gurgling laughter.

" _If you are afraid to speak to her, do not be. I think she is finding the right time to talk to you, or if you are curious, you should speak to her first,_ " Ray informed the other ape.

" _What do I say? Or do? All I ever know is how to hunt and fight,_ " Fox spat out.

" _I think the both of you will know what to say to each other. Do not think too hard on it, just do what you think is right,_ " Ray hummed.

Fox huffed out another deep breath and turned away, but thought about Ray's words. He didn't think that Flora would be interested in an ape like him, especially after what he's done. But her and her family had decided, just like him, to no longer fight the war and move onwards. Maybe… maybe it was time for him to reach out. Seek another branch of a tree and start on a different path. A path towards something that could grow.

"What now?" Fox asked after much thought, causing Ray to turn and look at him. " _Caesar and others. Gone. We left the fight_ _ing_ _to seek freedom. Somewhere safe._ _To protect our future._ _We found it and it is well. But what of us? What should we do? How should we continue_ _if something were to happen_ _?_ "

Ray frowned at the thought. Sure they did find their new home and for a while now, it has been peaceful, but for how long? Who couldn't say that war would be brought right up to them too? And things were to just start over again with the fighting and killings. That is the question that Ray and many of the other elders ask themselves everyday, every second. What if that were to happen?

Just as Ray was going to say something, a call from below alerted the two apes. Quickly glancing at each other, both Ray and Fox descended their perch and landed at the bottom with a soft thud. There they both met Shell who was bristling.

" _Shell? What is wrong? What is the matter?_ " Fox grunted, gesturing at the frantic white eared chimp.

"Scouts. They found. They find!" Shell spoke up.

" _Shell. It is okay. Calm down. Fox and I are not going anywhere. What is the matter? What did the scouts find?_ " Ray asked quickly.

After a few moments both Ray and Fox let the excited chimpanzee catch his breath before he met their eyes once more.

"Apes! Humans!" Shell spoke aloud, causing both Ray and Fox to curiously regard the chimp. "Scouts found! More apes! With humans. Flint and others. With them!" the white eared chimp said excitedly.

At this news, both Fox and Ray held their breaths and looked at each other. Was this true? Did they find more apes? With them also living with humans? This is news indeed. With this revelation, it definitely means that they were not the only ones out there. That there are others, all around, living peacefully, with some humans no less, and only waiting to be found.

Ray now remembered a certain tale that Malcolm had told him while they were traveling down south. He had told Blue Eyes, Ash and him that there were many other zoos out there. Many other human cities that had apes, of all kinds. Some may have been lost during the great plague that destroyed the humans, but Malcolm believed deep within his heart that there are good humans still. He remembered clearly when Malcolm told them of tales about humans who had risked their lives to save other apes. Many of these humans died trying to save apes, but Malcolm believed that they are all still out there, somewhere, out in the world. This may be one of them.

" _Lead the way. We will follow,_ " Fox answered Shell who quickly obliged and sped off.

Before Fox could move, he was stopped by a hand to his shoulder, causing him to round himself to look at Ray.

"You say. How we live. Now?" Ray spoke up. "We live. And forgive. Like what Armand told us to."

Fox breathed deeply as he stared down at Ray and thought about the words for a moment.

"Live and forgive," Fox repeated, turning fully and offering and arm towards Ray.

At this, Ray smiled and reached out to take a firm hold of the older chimpanzee's arm. After that the both of them ran after Shell.

"Be sure. To talk. To Flora!" Ray called out as he followed after Fox.

The chimpanzee huffing in front of Ray, rounded his head back and nodded in confirmation. They both now knew what they must do. They will live and keep on living for the sake of both apes and humans. Just like what Armand had taught, as well as sacrificed for them. It doesn't mean that they could change the past. But what they could do now is move forward and progress into the future. Make a world where maybe both humans and apes could live peacefully.

"Hurry!" Shell barked behind him excitedly.

When Fox and Ray heard their companion ushering them on, the two of them picked up the pace to meet these new apes and humans, whoever they were. They will live and they will forgive.

* * *

 **Apes Mentioned In This Chapter...**

 **Jeanpierre - One of the ape's from Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He had decided to leave Caesar's tribe after losing his dear eldest son - Noble, back in chapter 18. He now leads this new faction of apes, with the rest of his family, in hopes to have a better future.**

 **Gary (OC) - An orangutan who is somewhat a student of Maurice's. He along with Ray are establishing their society and taking it upon themselves to teach the newer and younger generation of apes.**

 **Flora (OC) - A chimpanzee whose family decided to leave Caesar's tribe in search of a more peaceful future.**

 **Hook (OC) -** **A chimpanzee whose family decided to leave Caesar's tribe in search of a more peaceful future.**


	45. Chapter 45

-Sounds Of The Waterfall-

After a hard day's work, Lake had found herself a secluded area by the waterfall. She tiredly rested herself upon some of the stones and turned to look up at the sky. There in the dim light the stars started to dot the heavens, casting the night with their twinkling lights. There was no sound to disturb her peace, nothing but the sounds of the waterfall to fill the night air. Soon enough though, she could hear the sounds of approaching pats, causing her to turn around to see who it was. To her surprise Lake saw that it was Maple, he good childhood friend, emerging from the inner caves to greet her.

" _Hello, Lake,_ " Maple greeted.

" _Maple,_ " Lake responded in kind.

The brown haired female walked on over and settled herself right next to Lake and gently leaned her head upon her shoulders.

" _Is everything alright?_ " Lake asked curiously.

Heaving a deep breath, Maple closed her eyes for a moment before finally exhaling.

" _I am just tired,_ " Maple signed slowly, to which Lake responded with a small smile. " _The fight between the human soldiers just continues. Several moons ago our warriors went off to fight, to destroy the human dam… Many came back hurt. Others… I did what I could but we can only do so much. Even the ones we tried to save. I_ _-_ "

Maple couldn't continue as she turned her head away as tears fell.

" _I know,_ " Lake responded as she reached out and took a hold of Maple's hand. " _Many of the young ones… They will never ever see their fathers or brothers again. It hurts me a lot when I see the little ones expecting to see their fathers and brothers, only for their mothers and sisters to tell them that they are not coming back. Their cries… It hurts me deeply so. But I must be strong for them. We will be strong for them. Understand?_ " Lake asked.

At this, Maple sniffed and nodded slowly and Lake relaxed herself. The many months after Blue Eyes and the others had left, has been difficult for everyone . There were rarely any days of peace for what was left of the colony as things had to be taken into consideration and much planning had to be done. Their warriors and Gorilla Guards would leave the safety of the waterfall and fight the human soldiers, leading them astray through the forest. Sacrificing themselves so that their families may survive the next day.

As the two sat there by the falls, listening to the cascading waters; Maple let out a light laugh, gaining Lake's attention.

" _What is so funny?_ " Lake asked her friend.

Maple blinked at Lake before curtly turning her head away and a embarrassed smile enveloped her features.

" _What is it?_ " Lake asked curiously, now intrigued.

" _Just remembering when Ash had first approached me_ ," Maple reminisced. " _He was so… direct that I didn't know what to do._ "

"I remember that well," Lake beamed. " _It was just after we were just learning about the beginnings of motherhood that Ash walked right up to you and gave your your favorite food and flowers._ "

" _That he did,_ " Maple smiled warmly. " _After that he started to show more and more. He would help me carry many things, even when I told him he did not need to… but he did anyways. He always brought me food and water and…_ " Maple trailed on.

" _It just shows you how much he likes you,_ " Lake gestured in as well.

"And. You. With. Blue Eyes?" Maple then asked.

At the mention of the sky eyed ape, Lake couldn't help but roll her eyes in annoyance and harrumphed on the spot.

" _Blue Eyes is so… I can't even think of_ _what to say_ _right now. But it took him a long time. Even when I approached him,_ " Lake responded with a grunt.

At this, Maple smiled warmly, remembering her friend's attempt at the oblivious young prince a while ago.

" _You can't blame him though, Lake. He is prince. He has to do and learn things differently than many of the other_ _apes our age_ _,_ " Maple gestured to the other female. " _He does not have time to learn and be much with the other_ _s_ _like we have._ "

Lake breathed deeply through her nose but relaxed her features.

" _I know_ _, and I understand_ _. It is just hard sometimes. I honestly do not know why I went after him in the first place. I don't even know if he is right with me,_ " Lake gestured slowly.

" _Do you like him though?_ " Maple asked curiously.

At this, Lake simply nodded slowly.

" _And does he like you in return?_ "

" _Now that he knows, yes,_ " Lake gestured.

" _Then that is all you need to know,_ " Maple signed back, a gentle smile upon her lips, causing Lake to mirror it.

As the two spoke more and laughed about the times when they were young and reminiscing about the past. Bot Lake and Maple groomed one another and simply sat by the falls, letting their memories filled their minds and beings about better times. A time without pain and suffering like now, if just for a little while.

" _What is the matter?_ " Lake asked, noticing the change in her friend.

" _I miss him, Lake. Ash. I miss him very much. I miss his smile, his laughter and when he holds me close. I know he is safe with Blue Eyes and Rocket. But he is still with… with…_ "

"Koba." Lake finished for the other female who huffed.

" _I do not understand. Why did Caesar send Koba with them? He was the one who started all of this did he not?_ " Maple grunted out.

Lake took in a deep breath and reached out, taking her friend's hands into hers and held it for a moment.

" _I do not understand it myself but I believe in Caesar's decision,_ " Lake responded in kind. " _Whatever reason Caesar did what he did, he must know something that we ourselves do not understand. Like sending Koba with the others. Remember, Koba was not always bad to us. He was kind and loving as well… just like Pope was. But we until then, we found out that Pope was the cause of all of this too. So I do not know,_ " Lake finished.

The two were silent once more, contemplating on what had changed so much between then and now. Thinking on what could have been done differently or what could have transpired if they had never met the humans in the first place. Would they have just existed like nothing has happened? Or would they eventually be found out anyways? There were so many possibilities.

Hearing a soft hoot, both Lake and Maple turned their heads and noticed a very heavily pregnant Tinker looking right at them.

" _There you two are. I was wondering where you both were,_ " Tinker gestured as she came up to the two younger females.

" _Is something the matter aunt Tinker?_ " Lake asked quickly, standing up to meet with the older female.

Tinker stopped in her tracks, seeing the worried faces upon the two younger females and gently she reached out and took their hands.

" _Nothing is the matter. Just wondering where you two were,_ " Tinker hummed as she gestured at the two.

Relief showed upon both Lake and Maple's faces before they reached out and gently hugged Tinker.

" _What were you two doing all the way out here for?_ " Tinker asked curiously.

" _We were just talking about Blue Eyes, Ash, Rocket and Koba. Wondering how they are doing,_ " Lake responded, before she caught herself.

At the mention of both Ash and Rocket's names, a sad frown enveloped the older female's features and Tinker gently placed a hand upon her big belly.

" _I am sorry aunt Tinker. I did not mean to-_ "

"It. Alright," Tinker breathed quietly while she looked down at her distended belly.

Both Lake and Maple looked at one another, not sure what to do but Tinker lifted back up her head and simply smiled warmly at the two.

" _I believe. They will come back. I do not know when but maybe soon,_ " Tinker gestured.

" _Maybe, very soon,_ " Maple said as well, gaining an nod from the older female.

" _Come you two. It is getting dark now. Your families must be worried about the both of you,_ " Tinker signed to the both of the younger females.

At this, both Lake and Maple agreed as they all went along with Tinker back into the safety of their new home. A home that was hidden behind the falling waters, shielding them from the outside world.

...

While Tinker lead the two younger females back into the caverns she ushered the two to their families as soon as possible. Once they all had left, Tinker turned herself in for the rest of the evening as well, making her way back to her own sleeping quarters. It was a generous area, big and round, with a giant nesting area made of the softest branches and leaves that could be found. Crawling into it, Maple laid there all alone as her thoughts wandered to her two missing boys.

It had been a very long time now since her beloved Rocket and sweet little Ash had gone off into the unknown world. There was not a day where she didn't think of the both of them. Wondering if they were alright or not. She tried to keep her dark thoughts about them as far away form possible, but sometimes they were just too much and she would go into a secluded spot to silently cry by herself. It is here now she is now allowing herself to cry again, at missing both Rocket and Ash. Oh, she hoped that they were alright. That one day they would both come back to her, safe and sound, and be within her arms once more.

With a shudder, Tinker buried her face within her hands and silently wept into them. While crying to herself, Tinker did not realize a few figures had approached her chamber and was a little startled when she felt a hand upon her shoulder. Gasping, Tinker looked upwards and was surprised to see Cornelia, a little sleeping Cornelius within her arms, and both Lake and Maple. Sniffing and wiping away at her eyes, Tinker sat up in her nest and curiously looked at the other three.

" _Cornelia? Lake? Maple. What are you all doing here?_ " Tinker had asked.

" _To be with you,_ " Cornelia simply answered with a warm smile as she entered the nest and laid down next to Tinker.

" _What about Caesar? Your families?_ " Tinker asked.

" _Caesar is fine. He is still very busy at the moment and I have already let him know that I was here,_ " Cornelia explained.

" _Mother and father said that I could come,_ " Maple chimed in next. " _Mother says that her stomach has been acting up so they will need much of the nest as possible._ "

" _And I have already asked my mother and father too,_ " Lake finished as she laid in as well.

"Why did you all come here?" Tinker questioned, curiosity enveloping her features.

" _Because I wanted to say sorry,_ " Lake responded.

" _Because_ _we_ _need not be alone,_ " Cornelia answered next.

" _Because you are my beloved's mother and therefore that makes you my mother too. What kind of daughter would I be if I cannot take care of either of my mothers,_ " Maple said lastly.

Upon hearing this from Maple, Tinker could help but smile as joy and warmth filled her being. She reached out and hugged every one of the other females firmly, glad that they were all there, just for her.

" _Thank you. All of you,_ " Tinker sniffed.

" _Let us sleep now,_ " Cornelia gently shushed her friend and laid down next to her, keeping little Cornelius close to her.

After that the four of them were lulled into a gentle slumber, with all their worries and sadness pushed away by the sounds of the waterfall.


	46. Chapter 46

-I Am Sorry-

Running back into the cave with a bundle of as much of dry wood he could find, Koba set the stack down in a big heap. The bonobo then heaved out a deep sigh as he reached up and wiped at his wet face. A loud booming sound echoed from behind him, causing Koba to turn around and frown as he watched the storm rage on just outside of the lip of the cave. After a few heartbeats, he had bent down to gather up the dry logs once more before proceeding further into the cavern.

The further inside Koba traversed the darker it had gotten, but that was not long. After a few patted steps within the dark cave, orange and red colored lights started to light up the area. Where outside was full of lightning rain and thunder, the inside of the cavern was silent before the sounds of coughing, wheezing and crackle of fire filled the air. Rounding the corner, Koba came upon a open area and within it, the other apes, his traveling companions.

However, all was not well from the looks of it. Around the bonfire laid two of their companions, both Blue Eyes and Rocket. Just several days ago the two chimpanzees had succumbed to some kind of illness and were unable to journey any further. Koba and Ash, the other two who were doing fine, had decided that it was best to keep Blue Eyes and Rocket well rested before moving on. So here they were now, stuck within a cavern with a severe thunderstorm that raged just outside.

Walking on over to the dying fire, Koba fed the flames with the fresh pile of wood within his arms. The sounds of coughing caught his attention, causing him to look up and see Ash making his way on over to the prince and helping the ill ape to some fresh water, while offering soft coos in hopes that it'll ease his friend's pain. Koba couldn't help himself but frown at their situation.

"How are they?" Koba asked quietly.

Ash had take the moment to rest, sitting by the fire with his head hanging low. But when the question was asked, the younger chimp's head lifted up slightly, meeting Koba's.

 _"Not shaking_ _as_ _much. But still sick,_ " Ash responded in sign, avoiding the older ape's eyes all the while.

With that being the only answer he was getting out of Ash, Koba sighed and turned his attention to both Blue Eyes and Rocket, wondering how in the world the both of them became so sick like this. It had been many moons since they've left the colony. During those time, they have found their human companions a new home. It was a small human town that Koba himself had never seen before but apparently the rest mostly knew of the place, sans Ellie. With that, they said their farewells as well and parted ways.

When it became just the four of them, things were still a little… heated between Koba and Rocket. The bigger chimp still harboring strong resentment for the bonobo and had physically confronted said ape a few times. Ash on the other hand, had steered clear from Koba, as far away as possible and would usually look the other direction when the older ape would turn his way. Blue Eyes was the only one who was willing to speak to their outcast companion and tried to understand him. Koba still often time wondered why Caesar had sent him upon this journey with these three. Three apes who he's hurt terribly. Was this still punishment for him? Maybe he'll never know. But he'll keep moving forward if he must. In order to amend for what he had did and done.

This routine went on for days. Then it dragged into weeks, months and eventually ended up to where they were now. Sitting out through a thunderstorm and caring for two very sick apes in the process.

Walking on over to where Blue Eyes was, Koba knelt down and placed a hand upon the prince's forehead, feeling nothing but heat radiating from the other ape. This strange sickness, that he is seeing now upon Blue Eyes, reminded him eerily of when he was used by the humans very much back then. Those human work…. why is it now that he is seeing such sickness upon apes too? Many things in the world was still a strange concept to him and maybe he would never know why. But hopefully like him, Blue Eyes and Rocket will pull through from this illness.

…

As morning finally came around Koba was quite relieved to see that the storm had settled during the night. He had taken it upon himself to check in on their horses who unfortunately was unable to fit within the cave with them and was set outside with the storm. Luckily he found the creatures in a open field a few hundred paces away, casually eating the fresh wet grass. Glad that the creatures did not run away into the unknown, he had gathered the horses and brought them all back to the cave where they were all staying at.

Leaving the horses where they were, Koba was about to turn back and check in on the others but was startled when he saw Ash standing motionlessly there, outside in the open with him. They both stood there like that for a long while with nothing but the morning breeze to blow between them.

" _Ash? Something wrong?_ " Koba had asked the other ape.

No response.

Koba frowned slightly as he stood there with Ash but the longer he waited, he started to realize that Ash won't speak to him. Like many times before. Instead, Koba huffed and decided that he was going to go check on the others instead if Ash was not going to talk to him. He then made his way past Ash and headed towards the cave.

"Why?"

Koba stopped in his tracks and cocked his head around, not sure if he had heard Ash correctly. Again the air was silent once more between the two apes and the air gently breezed around them. Koba however, noticed the hackles and hairs on Ash were raised and the younger chimp slowly turned around to stare at him, with those leafy green eyes, full of anger.

" _Why did you try to hurt me, Koba? I… I trusted you,_ " Ash gestured with swift hand movements, his shoulders rising and falling with each breath he took.

And now here it was, the "why."

It had been a question that Koba himself had been trying to figure out while he was on this journey with the others. But no matter how many times he thought about it or tried to reason with it, he couldn't figure out an answer. He was going to find some kind of way to maybe perhaps to reconcile with Ash but he had just not found the right time or place to do it. Yet, here he was now, confronted by the usually passive chimpanzee and to be honest he was quite caught off guard.

"I… Don't know," Koba said in a low voice, breaking eye contact and looking away, anywhere but at Ash.

There was a chuff from Ash, whom tapped his own chest angrily.

"You. Should know," Ash spat out angrily, voice strained a bit from unused, causing Koba to meet his eyes once more. " _You were the one that tried to kill me!_ " Ash continued, huffing all the while.

At this Koba turned away in shame once more and became silent as his thought flowed through his mind.

"Why?!" Ash barked aloud, causing Koba to snap back to the young chimp.

Upon closer inspection, Koba noticed that the young chimpanzee's body was tense, his face flushed and leafy green eyes glistening with angry tears. Ash's cheeks sunk in and puffed out with each breath he inhaled and exhaled while he stood there. Koba had never seen Ash expressed this kind of emotion before and was, to be honest, quite startled by it. But the more he observed the young ape the more he could see the fear and desperation set within those leafy green orbs that were directed back at him. Emotions that looked ever so familiar to him. Something, that reminded him… of himself.

Sighing, Koba turned away from the younger male for a moment before walking on over to where Ash stood. Standing in front of the other chimpanzee, Koba looked the young male once over before relaxing his features, showing that he was not a threat to the other ape.

"Koba, sorry," Koba said quietly, causing Ash to blink in confusion. " _I was stupid. I could not control my anger… I was angry that no one was listening to me. To my warnings. Especially Caesar, who humiliated me. That made me want to hurt someone. Anyone. And when I told you to kill the human, you said that Caesar_ _would not have wanted it to be like that_ _. So I… I attacked you. Tried to kill you._ _Out of anger._ "

Ash sniffed as a couple of tears rolled down the sides of his face, still not quite satisfied from what the older ape was telling him.

" _I know I hurt you. And that you must be so angry. With me. Even. Hate me,_ " Koba continued with slow hand movements. " _I just want to let you know, Ash. How sorry I am. How stupid I was to have_ _tried_ _to hurt you. I… I did not mean to hurt you. Ever. Anger makes me blind. Makes me not think. I am sorry, Ash._ "

Then Koba surprised Ash by reaching out and offering the younger male a supplicating palm.

"I am sorry."

So astonished was he, that Ash had forgotten to breath for a moment. It was very rare for an ape like Koba to ask another for forgiveness but one, especially like him. He's always seen Koba asking someone none other than Caesar but for the bonobo to ask him for forgiveness instead, astounded him. Ash of course was very hesitant on what to do, never having to forgive Koba before. However as he met Koba's gaze, the younger ape could see the sincerity within the older ape's eyes and features, who patiently waited for him.

"Koba is sorry," Koba said once more.

Taking a deep breath, Ash composed himself finally and slowly reached out, uncurling his fingers and letting the tips grace over Koba's outstretched palm. Once Ash had drawn his fingers over Koba's, the two apes stood there and silently met each others gaze again. And like that, the heavy presence within the air seemed to have lifted from the both of them, causing the world to numb out and be placid.

Koba watched as Ash kept up his angry frown a little longer, but then it eventually melted and the younger chimp's features slowly warped into that of sorrow, fear and desperation. The white flecked chimp's eyes became wet and he turned his attention past Koba and towards the cave's entrance.

"Scared," Ash whimpered out. "Blue Eyes… father… sick. Could die."

At this, Koba grunted, gaining Ash's attention.

" _You do not think like that. Your father is the best friend of Caesar, and is the most capable warrior among us apes. He is strong and this illness will not take him from us. Blue Eyes too. Because he is Caesar's son and will need to be here to lead the apes when Caesar can not. They will both overcome this sickness. You understand?_ "

At this, Ash wiped away at his face with the back of his arm and met Koba's stare once more.

" _You think so?_ " Ash asked hesitantly.

Koba nodded in confirmation with a grunt and then he pounded his chest once.

"Trust," Koba said confidently.

Ash took in a deep breath and glanced back at the cave for a moment before facing Koba again.

"Trust," Ash responded back.

Koba nodded.

" _Now, it is up to the both of us to help them. We must be strong for Blue Eyes and your father. Help them heal. Help them get better. Your mother is waiting for you and your father to return_ _to her_ _. Caesar, Cornelia and Cornelius is waiting for Blue Eyes to return_ _to them as well_ _. You and Blue Eyes' beloveds are waiting for you both to_ _go back_ _. Understand?_ " Koba gestured.

At this, Ash lowered his head and nodded slowly.

"Come. Let us help Blue Eyes and your father," Koba said aloud before he turned around and started to head back towards the cave.

"What about. You, Koba?" Ash asked, causing Koba to stop in his tracks and turn around to look at him. " _Is there no ape that is waiting for you too?_ "

At this line of question, Koba simply stood there and was quiet for a long time. Ash had thought that he was not going to get an answer but Koba instead huffed and met his gaze.

" _Come, we need to take care of Blue Eyes and your father,_ " Koba stated simply before turning back around and making his way towards the cave.

It did not go past Ash as he noticed that sorrowful look within the older ape's eyes and had instead avoided the question. Ash and wanted to stop Koba and reassure him as well, but he knew naught of what to say. So instead he quietly but quickly followed after Koba and hoped his questioned did not hurt he older ape too much.

…

It was days later, that the four companions emerged from their shelter. Both Rocket and Blue Eyes were a lot better now, still wheezing a bit but they were both able to move about on their own, thanks to Ash and Koba. Rocket couldn't help but notice that Ash seemed to have warmed up quite a lot around the scarred bonobo now. He was still very much wary of Koba as he doesn't still quite trust the other ape yet. However Ash seemed to have accepted the bonobo once more and it was very confusing to him. He wondered what had transpired between the two while both he and Blue Eyes were ill. Maybe he'll ask his son in private while they continue on their journey.

" _Father? Something wrong?_ " Ash asked with a big smile upon his face, when he noticed the older chimp looking at him.

" _Nothing,_ " Rocket gestured back. " _Come let us go._ _We still do not know how much is out there_ _,_ " he finished.

With that said, Rocket knuckle-walked on over to where the horses were and hefted himself onto one of them. Blue Eyes and Ash exchanged looks but the grayer of the two simply shrugged his shoulders and followed after Rocket. Blue Eyes wheezed out a small chuckle before he too followed suit, trailing after Ash and Rocket. Finally, it was Koba who ended up becoming the rear guard of the other three. He had momentarily stopped and turned around to look at the cave where they had all emerged from and stared at it. Hearing Rocket's hoot at the others, Koba exhaled deeply and met with the others, getting up on his horse.

"Ready to go?" Ash asked everyone, letting his eyes fall on Koba last, a giant beaming smile upon his face.

Koba couldn't help but smirk in return but simply nodded to answer the rambunctious chimp. With everyone finally on their horses and settled in, they all headed southward once more and moved on.


	47. Chapter 47

**Okay a little bit about this chapter. It is very, VERY short but hopefully it's enough. A fair warning to some of the readers for this chapter. For those who have not read the War for the Planet of the Apes 4 comics issue by Boom! Studios, some of what is read, won't make a lot of sense. But if you have and get the reference, good for you! But here is the 47th chapter. Again, it is very short and we want to get to War soon but just a little more. Two more chapters and we'll get to War. Thank you all for reading!**

* * *

-My Child-

There was a loud bang as the doors to the "The Inn at Deer Creek" opened and shut as a figure rushed past it and took cover behind the heaps of debris that laid about. Peeking out just over the edge, the hooded figure watched nervously at the doors, waiting and expecting for anything to happen. The figure knew naught how long he was like that but the longer he stayed there, the more silent it had become.

With a deep relieving sigh, the hooded figure slumped down onto the ground, exhausted after his recent ordeal. He had just went out to look for food and had found a zoo of sorts. Except this zoo had not animals but humans, people within them, all crying and yelling to be freed. It was an odd thing for the figure. Why would people imprison their own? Why would they stick them all within cages like that? All guarded by soldiers. There seemed to be nothing wrong with them, but then he wouldn't know the affairs. All he needed was food and to not be caught by the soldiers, nothing more and nothing less.

While he had scrounged about the figure had kept himself as discreet as possible, moving only within the shadows and grabbing what he can in order to survive. There was a point when he had stopped and watched the humans within the cages. How miserable they all looked and sounded. But what could he do? With a heavy heart, he had turned away and continued his search. Luckily he was able to follow a few of the soldiers into a storage area and snuck on in. There the figure was able to take as much as he needed before he quickly got out of there, never looking back. Which lead him to where he was now.

Sitting there on the cold hard ground the figure then reached up to his zipper and pulled it down, over his bloated belly. As the zipper was undone, many packages fell from within the jacket and right onto the cold hard ground beneath. Feeling quite hungry the figure reached down for one of the packages and tore it open. The food within was hungrily gobbled down by the hooded figure, and once done, the wrapper was discarded off to the side among with many other things.

Once the figure has had his fill, he had gotten up and zipped up his jacket once more, shuddering at the cold surrounding. Looking about slowly the figure had decided that today was enough for him scrounging about and made his way on over to where a makeshift hammock was and flopped down onto it. While he laid there, the figure looked at his hand, seeing the yellow glove on it still. While staring at the glove the figure noticed how worn out the thing was and slowly took the thing off.

"Idiot. Stupid. Completely useless. Can't even tie a rope."

The voice of someone long distant past rang within the figure's mind as he laid there and looked at the glove. Was he an idiot? No, he just did not know. Was he stupid? Maybe, but he can still learn, right? Was he completely useless? Who knows, yet he was able to help when needed. Couldn't tie a rope, but given time he knew how to tie one now. All the things that was said to him, what were they for? Why at him? Were there something more to those words? Whatever it was, the person that had said it to him is now gone and he'll never know. Well… that didn't matter now. All that mattered now was that he survived. That he survived.

The longer the figure laid there among the stillness the colder it was for him. With another shudder the figure reached on over towards one of the blankets and yanked it on over, wrapping the fabric around his body. With the motion however, the figure was surprised when the action had caused something to fall onto the bedding, right next to him. Freezing for a moment the figure gasped quietly before he reached out and took a hold of the object.

Moving the thing closer to him the figure could now see that the object that had fallen was a stuffed toy alligator. Breath catching within his throat the figure gingerly brought the stuffed animal close to his chest, holding it there as he cradled it.

"Safe. We safe," the figure's wavering voice said softly within the cold emptiness of the surrounding area.

The air was suddenly filled with the sounds of broken soft sobs that emanated from the figure. As he drew his face forward, the nearly balding head of an ape with very large ears, pressed his snout upon the toy. Tears slowly falling from the ape's closed eyes and soaking into the plush that he was holding onto.

"My child," the ape sobbed quietly within the cold empty room as he held onto the last remnant of something that reminded him of his past.

As the ape continued to cry himself to sleep, outside it started to snow once more. Beginning the cycle anew with it's gentle fall.


	48. Chapter 48

**Apologies for the long wait everyone! It's been quite a hectic 2 weeks for me so I wasn't able to post last. But better late than never right? This chapter is going to focus on characters from the game Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier game. So, if any of you have not played the game you all won't get this specific setting scene... However, I'll just let you all know that it is at the wee bit beginning of the game and that is about it. So, here's chapter 48 and I hope you all enjoy! Happy Readings!**

* * *

-Family Is All-

" _Clarence, how do you think they will do?_ " Khan asked the orangutan beside him, watching his sons take their leave to find the tribe food.

" _I do not know but I hope that they are successful in their findings,_ " Clarence responded. " _Or else the tribe will suffer again,_ " he finished. " _It may not be long before we must move our tribe once more._ "

At this, Khan hung his head low and let out a deep sigh.

" _We cannot move the tribe again,_ " Khan gestured to Clarence. " _We have already done so much to get away from the fighting. The tribe, it would not be fair to have them pick up and move again._ "

" _Not fair. Yes. But if there is no food for the tribe. Then what choice to we have?_ " Clarence slowly signed back to his troubled leader.

" _What choice do we have indeed..._ " Khan repeated with a huff.

Agreeing with Clarence, Khan slowly got up and made his way on over to the ledge where he could oversee his tribe. Watching his apes moving about and keeping in their little huddles with one another, memories starting to flow back into his mind. Memories reminding him of that day...

"Khan? Where. We going?" Pauleen had asked as she followed after her mate.

"Far away," Khan grunted back. "Away from fighting. Somewhere safe. To protect you. Our children. Our future."

Keeping up with her mate, Pauleen quickly glanced behind herself. Following the both of them were the rest of what made up of their tribe. First it was Tola and Brutus, both whom were keeping eyes out and signing to one another as they followed. Next it was Bryn, Oaka, their little Kanj, and Oaka's mother Lala. Behind them trudged along the rest of the apes and within it Juno and Clarence as they proceeded through the empty plains.

"Khan?" Pauleen voiced softly, catching the attention of her husband. " _We need to rest. We have not done so since we have left. It is dangerous to keep on going like this. We could lose apes,_ " she gestured as she hesitantly look behind her at the tired apes before rounding back to meet Khan's stern gaze once more. " _We need to rest._ "

Breathing deeply, Khan closed his eyes momentarily before he looked behind himself as well and considered Pauleen's words. From his point, he could see that his mate was right. The apes that had followed them were all tired and weary from the journey, some of the older ones like Clarence trailing just a little bit behind. They have done nothing but travel from days on end without much rest and it was taking a toll on them, all of them. This was just like the time where Caesar had first lead all of them through to forest when they have had their first taste of freedom. Those were dark tiring days, with them losing many but in the end was worth it. However, it was different now wasn't it? The humans were very far now and if Caesar and the rest of the apes were busy keeping the human soldiers at bay then maybe a time of rest is needed. Letting his gaze round back to the slighter female, Khan could see the desperation within Pauleen's eyes and he relented, pressing his forehead upon hers.

"Yes. We rest," Khan breathed softly.

Upon hearing this, Pauleen smiled at her mate and she gently pressed her forehead upon his again once more before leaving his side to help Oaka and the others.

It was here, Khan would regret ever making that decision for the rest of his life.

After settling down and taking the time to reassess everything, Khan had found himself sitting there on the plains with his mate, whom was busily grooming him. He had in turn helped groomed her as well and the two couldn't have felt closer towards one another since the day they've both became mates.

" _Look Khan,_ " Pauleen pointed out as she gestured on over towards Bryn and his little happy family.

Khan couldn't help but smile momentarily upon seeing Bryn lift up little Kanj and played with him while Oaka watched form the side.

" _Yes, I could not be more proud him,_ " Khan gestured.

Pauleen beamed warmly at her son's new family but then a small frown appeared on her face,causing her mate to notice. Feeling Khan's finger under her chin, the bigger male lifted her head so that she was staring at him.

" _What is wrong?_ " Khan had asked.

Pauleen sighed before she closed her eyes and opened them back up again.

" _Everything that we had become. With Caesar and the rest of the other apes. It is gone now. All of it. I fear the day that we would lose everything,_ " Pauleen signed slowly.

" _We will not lose everything,_ " Khan reassured his mate as he took her hands into his.

" _How can you be so sure?_ " Pauleen asked with a sigh. " _Caesar and the rest of the apes were sure that the humans were gone. That they had all disappeared and we apes would live together in peace. Now that peace is gone. With the return of humans,_ " Pauleen said slowly as she turned to look at all the apes around them once more.

" _Then we make the humans go when they come,_ " Khan affirmed.

At this, Pauleen shook her head slowly at his words.

"This fight was not started by humans. This was apes. Who started the fight," Pauleen said slowly as she met her mate's gaze. " _I want you to make sure that you will keep our family safe Khan. Do whatever you can to keep our children and the rest of the apes safe. Do not fight with humans. Do not seek them out. Do so only, if you must,_ " Pauleen gestured slowly.

" _What do you mean Pauleen?_ " Khan asked slowly, not understanding his mate.

Pauleen leaned into her mate and rested her head upon his chest, listening to his steady breathing and heaved out a deep sigh. She had then slowly lifted back up her head and earnestly met Khan's worried gaze.

Before a word could be uttered from Pauleen there were cries and shrieks as the air around them was suddenly filled with the sounds of gunfire. Khan was immediately up and looked about worriedly as he could see many of his brothers and sisters falling, left and right. Then he saw them, there in the distance, humans with guns aimed right at them. Within the ensuing chaos, Pauleen had left his side to who knows where but he had to do something. No, he must do something or they will all die. Within a split second, Khan had bellowed out letting his call echo throughout the field, causing all apes to hear his cry.

"Apes! Fight!" Khan yelled out.

The response to counter was immediate as other apes had let out their own war cry and turned onto the offensive. Using the guns that they had acquired from the human city, the apes fought back at the intruders. Along with the guns they were using there were others whom were lobbing spears into the distance with their marks hitting true. With the counter attack they were able to fend off the intruders who had dared to attack them.

What felt like an eternity finally ended and all was silence once more as the humans had retreated back to whence they came from. Surveying the plains, Khan was horrified by what he had saw. Many of the apes that had came with them laid dead or dying. Not just warriors but mothers, the young and the old as well. All indiscriminately slaughtered just because they were apes.

With a heavy heart, Khan quickly looked around for his family and luckily he found Tola and Brutus looking about, eyes skittering in every direction for any other signs of danger. He approached the two to make sure that they were alright. Turning to Brutus, Khan then ordered the gorilla to find any of the other warriors, as well as the guards and have them send out patrols to scout the area to scout for any further danger. Without another word, Brutus nodded and quickly did as he was asked. Tola was going to join the gorilla but was stopped by Khan who ordered his oldest child to stay by his side. Together they both wandered throughout the area to find the rest of their family.

They had both found Clarence and Juno next. Luckily the two were safely unharmed as well and were huddled together with some of the other apes. Approaching them, Khan quickly gave Juno a hug, relieved that his son was safe before slowly reaching out towards Clarence.

" _Juno, did you see Bryn?_ " Khan asked quickly, turning back to his youngest son.

The younger withered arm male whimpered before he slowly turned around and pointed. Following the direction of where Juno had indicated, Khan's eyes widened slightly as he could see Bryn, Oaka and Kanj, all unharmed but both were looking down at something. Making his way on over towards them slowly, Khan approached his middle child and gasped at what he had saw.

While Bryn, Oaka and Kanj were fine from the sudden attack, they were now standing over a couple of bodies.

That of Lala's and Pauleen's.

Letting out a small huff, Khan quickly lumbered on over and stood over his mate, quickly reaching down and picking her up into his arms. Looking down at Pauleen's face, Khan gritted his teeth as he could see a single bullet hole within his mate's abdomen. Just as he thought he had lost her, a single cough had surprised Khan and he quickly became still as his mate's lovely green eyes slowly opened up to for him.

"P-Pauleen," Khan croaked out.

His mate blinked slowly once and a small smile appeared on her face.

"Khan," Pauleen whispered out as she reached out with a bloody hand and placed it upon her mate's cheek.

Sniffing, Khan reached up as well and placed his hand over hers, keeping it there.

" _Do not worry. I will take care of you. I promise,_ " Khan quickly gestured.

Pauleen smiled sadly and slowly she shook her head, as tears fell from her eyes.

" _Promise me,_ " Pauleen started to sign slowly while her mate kept his eyes on her. " _Promise me.. that you will… keep our family… safe._ "

At this, Khan didn't know what to say. So he quickly nodded in response.

"Keep. Juno. Safe," Pauleen wheezed out, gaining another nod from her mate who was now letting tears fall from his eyes.

Pauleen then smiled at him warmly and touched his cheek again, feeling Khan lean into her touch.

"Family. Is. All," Pauleen whispered to Khan.

"Family. Is. All," Khan repeated.

With that, Pauleen's smile slowly disappeared along with the light within her eyes fading away, body relaxing within her mate's arms.

With a few whimpers, Khan shook Pauleen to try and get her to respond to him again, but she did not budge. Now knowing that his dear sweet Pauleen was now gone, he then glanced back up at the others, only to see that all of his children was crying as well, including his extended family.

" _She protected me,_ " Oaka wept as she gestured with one hand. " _Mother and Pauleen protected me and Kanj from the human guns._ "

Looking back down at his Pauleen, Khan then cradled his dearly beloved close to him and wept aloud as he rocked back and forth with her.

As the memory faded, Khan heaved out a tired sigh and turned back around to face Clarence with the old orangutan simply staring back. After that event Tola had ushered the rest of them to go after the humans who had slaughtered their apes and Khan had immediately agreed to do so, filled with hate and revenge then. However, as they came upon the human encampment, they had found no humans there, as if they had all vanished without a trace. To his and many of the other apes disappointment there was no more human blood to be shed that day. However, Khan had remembered his promise to his mate to keep their children safe and begrudgingly he forced the tribe to move onwards, leaving their deceased behind.

"Back then. What. Did I do. Wrong?" Khan asked as the memory faded, rounding himself so that he could see Clarence. " _Was what I did to keep the apes safe, worth it?_ "

" _We are here now, are we not?_ " Clarence responded as he meandered on over. " _You did nothing wrong, friend. You did your best with what was provided. You should be proud of that._ "

"You think so?" Khan had asked.

" _I know so,_ " Clarence reassured with a tired smile, reaching out and placing a hand upon his leader's shoulder. " _Pauleen would be proud for what you have done for the tribe._ "

Khan met Clarence's gaze but couldn't help himself as he heaved out yet another tired breath and turned back to look down at the apes.

" _I will go see your sons off to hunt,_ " Clarence gestured as he walked away but paused a moment. " _Remember what Pauleen had said,_ " he gestured. " _Family is all._ "

At this Khan did something he hadn't done for a long time and that was smile.

" _Family is all,_ " Khan repeated.

Clarence nodded with a small smile of his own before he continued on his way through the stone path, leaving Khan there. With Clarence gone, Khan slowly turned back around to oversee his apes again and thought about what they've all accomplished since they've gotten to this mountain and made it their home. Maybe, just maybe they will have a good future here. One without fighting and one where this tribe of apes could live in peace.


	49. Chapter 49

**Surprise! It's a double chapter this week! Not only is it a double chapter, to make up for me not posting last week of course... Not only that, it is also my last Anthology chapter as well as Chapter 50 will start the beginning of War for the Planet of the Apes, for this fanfic series. A hope you guys and gals have enjoyed the chapters so far. If any of you guys have anything to say, please do post below or if not, that is fine too. But again, these were fun to write and I hope you've all enjoyed them. Next up, War.**

* * *

-Dreams and Nightmares-

Caesar held onto Koba's hand desperately, the scarred bonobo's life within his hands. The renegade ape dangled high above the gutted remains of an unfinished human skyscraper in the ruins of San Francisco. Looking past Koba, Caesar could see the smoke and flames rising from within the building's sub-basements. The cause of it all was an earlier explosion that had just brought down large portions of the structure that they were on, injuring several apes in the process and nearly killing both he and Koba as they fought for primacy. Caesar, whom was wounded and bleeding himself, strained himself upon an unstable steel girder as he held onto Koba's forearm with one hand. Only Caesar's waning strength had kept Koba from falling hundreds of feet below towards his death.

"Caesar?"

With a huff, Caesar's focus went back to Koba whom was looking at him a sad smile. Staring into the bonobo's golden-green eye; the other had been blinded by the humans long before they had both met. Old scars that riddled the bonobo's body bore witness to Koba's brutal treatment at the hands of his human captors so many years ago, but could that excuse Koba's actions? Unbeknownst to them all, he had let his hatred consume him and therefore allow it to dictate his actions of how to treat the humans and extinguishing any hope of peace they could have between both humans and apes. But was he truly all at fault though? Yes he was the one that lead the apes into battle but he was used wasn't he? By another more sinister?

"Koba. No longer ape."

With a gasp, Caesar tightened his grip as he held onto Koba's arm who had suddenly went slack on him.

"No! Koba hold!" Caesar shouted.

But it was all for naught as the weight under his hand suddenly slipped through his fingers and Caesar watched in horror as the scarred bonobo fell into the abyss. Plummeting towards his death, falling endlessly into the raging fire far below, which blazed like a funeral pyre. Falling onto his knees Caesar's eyes stared wide into the red and yellow hot flames that had swallowed up his old friend. Gritting his teeth, Caesar shut his eyes tightly and cursed himself for not being able to hold onto Koba's arms longer.

There was a slight chuckle from behind to which Caesar perked up, slowly rounding his head to see who was laughing at a time like this. To his surprise and horror, there stood a very beaten up looking chimp, with scars marring the left side of his face and blood dripping all over him.

"Pope?" Caesar breathed.

"Caesar," Pope croaked back as he slowly approached the ape king.

Pope blinked once and looked past Caesar before eyeing him once more with those dark green eyes of his.

" _What is the matter Caesar? Couldn't hold onto one ape? Too weak?_ " Pope gestured, jabbing a bit at the distraught chimp.

Baring his fangs, Caesar quickly stood up and rounded himself fully to face the other chimp.

"This is your fault!" Caesar bellowed.

" _My fault? Why so?_ " Pope asked feigning innocence.

" _You caused all of this. Killed apes. Ruined our peace with the humans!_ " Caesar growled in anger.

At this Pope grabbed his mid-section as his shoulders shook with laughter, causing Caesar to freeze at the odd reaction.

" _You don't really believe that, do you?_ " Pope asked earnestly.

Before Caesar could react, within a blink of an eye, Pope was right in front of him and shoved him off of the girder he was standing on. His arms reaching out in reflex, Caesar had caught the edge of the girder and held onto it for dear life. Caesar grunt and hissed as he strained his arm muscles to keep himself from falling into the fiery abyss that bellowed from below. Huffing, Caesar looked up only to see Pope standing over him, an unreadable expression upon the other bloodied ape's face.

"You believe. That humans. And apes. Will have peace?" Pope asked slowly, meeting Caesar with half lidded eyes. "There will never. Be peace. Humans. And apes. Will always fight. Always want. Bloodshed. Nothing you do. Will change that. Even. If I. Was not. Here. It would not. Change that," Pope spoke as he reached down, took a hold of Caesar's arm and lifted him up slowly.

With a huff, Caesar stared into the cold dark eyes of Pope's, who seem to look straight into his very being.

"Apes. Kill apes... Caesar. Humans. Kill humans... Humans. Kill apes... And apes. Kill humans," Pope said slowly so that Caesar heard every single word. "Even if. Caesar. Wants peace. How long?" Pope asked seriously. "Peace never last. There is. Always fighting. Always hatred. You choose. Not to see. But I do. Other apes do."

Pope then looked around himself once before he met Caesar's golden green eyes once more with his own dark green ones.

"There is only peace. When all is dead," Pope spoke gently.

As Pope said those words; to Caesar's horror, the other chimp's face was slowly being drenched in more blood as his eyes turned pale and glassy, the look of death. Suddenly the hand that was holding onto Caesar's forearm had let go, causing Caesar to fall. Caesar yelled as he fell further and further into the roaring flames below. The last thing he saw was Pope looking down at him with those glassy colored eyes, body illuminated in colors of red, oranges and yellows.

Caesar cried out as he woke from the nightmare. His golden-green eyes snapped open even as his heart pounded deeply within his very own chest. Looking around, Caesar found himself in his private dwelling within the fortress: a small cave in the upper levels of the cliff face, hidden behind cascading sheets of water that formed the far wall of the chamber. Hands shaking, Caesar had let his eyes wander down to see his beloved Cornelia and youngest child sleeping peacefully beside him, their dreams untroubled by past events of betrayal and hurt.

Breathing deeply to calm himself. Caesar allowed his racing heart to slow to a more moderate pace. Glancing upwards, Caesar squinted as the light rays of sunlight filtered through the falling water, casting a subdued golden radiance upon the floor of the cave. Not for the first time, the sight and sound of the falling water brought a calmness that soothed Caesar's spirits. Especially after that terrible nightmare that had woke him.

Getting up as quietly as he could so that he did not disturb his family, Caesar walked on over to the side of the cave and simply peered past the the falling waterfall to where the sun was rising. As troubled as he was from the nightmare, and of Pope's words. There was one thing that he still hung onto, and that was hope. A hope that there will be a better future, a future for both Apes and humans. That maybe one day they could end all of their fighting and learn to live with one another. However, that time was not now and not soon. But maybe, in the future, there is hope for them all. Blinking his tired golden-green eyes, Caesar kept his eyes upon the rising sun a little longer before eventually moving on.

…

Golden-green and milky white eyes stared up at the brilliant pale moon that shone up above, blanketing the world with its soft light. Sighing tiredly, Koba rubbed at his eyes and had let his head hang low as the crickets of the night sang their songs around him. Again, it was another night of trouble sleep and restlessness for him. He had thought that he had rid himself of these idiotic memories of fear and anger but for reasons unknown they kept appearing within his mind, reminding himself of who and what he was. It was infuriating of course but there was not much he could do about it.

The were a rustling noise towards his right and Koba quickly turned around to see what it was. Then, to Koba's surprise a hulking figure emerged from the bushes in the form of Rocket, who had stopped momentarily to stare at the bonobo before slowly easing himself on over and sat next to him.

" _You were shaking in your sleep,_ " Rocket gestured at Koba. " _Got up and left. Something wrong?_ "

"No," Koba simply grunted out and looked away.

Rocket however, would not relent and reached out, tapping the bonobo on the shoulder to gain the other ape's attention once more.

" _Bad Dreams again?_ " Rocket asked curiously. " _Talk?_ "

Koba huffed and drew his arms closer towards his body, averting Rocket's gaze.

" _Nothing to say. Dreams are just dreams. Nothing more,_ " Koba answered, shuddering and drawing his limbs closer towards his body. " _Just bad memories._ "

Rocket frowned but didn't push on the subject more as he observed Koba. Back then, Rocket himself didn't think much of dreams from other apes as well. He would have said that they were nothing more than bugs in their ears. A minor annoyance that reminded them of things from the past and things that were odd. Yet, as of now, dreams were a window that showed them what they could not perceive and to humans apparently, something that could either tell them of ill or good omens.

Whatever had disturbed the scarred bonobo up from his sleep; Koba had decided to keep it to himself, as always. Even then though, Rocket himself didn't know what to say to Koba if the other ape had chosen to speak to him. But he knew that he wouldn't like to be alone at a time like this. Instead he chose to not say anything at all but simply sit there, to let Koba know that he needn't be alone as he is among friends now.

It was not noticeable at first but Rocket could see the other ape's tense body slowly relaxing and soon enough, it looked like as if the scarred bonobo wasn't tormented at all by his dreams anymore. Instead Koba now looked to be at peace and that was all Rocket needed to know. Throughout the rest of the night, both Koba and Rocket continue to sit there among the grassy terrain and simply stare up at the bright moon.


	50. Chapter 50

**And we are finally here with War. Please enjoy!**

* * *

The redwood forest had survived the end of the world. Human civilization may have collapsed, but the woods endured through it all, unchanged by the plagues, riots and upheavals that had brought humanity to the brink of extinction. Towering trees, rising as much as three hundred feet, high above the cool forest floor. Which seemed to mock mankind's precipitous fall, while the primeval scenery was just as it must have been, many years ago. Before everything went downhill for mankind.

Sunlight filtered through the dense green canopy overhead, which was filled with birdsong along with the ceaseless chattering of squirrels. A brisk winter wind rustled the leaves, branches and ferns of the forest. The whole forest itself, clouded in a damp misty haze that chilled the air.

Soft footsteps moved along through the woods, quiet with every single step. Crunching the leaves and twigs under leather boots, ever so softly. The boots belonged to one of two individuals whom were roaming the forest floor. The first man, with pale blue eyes, tall and slightly lanky, was dressed in attire befitting a soldier, decked in camo fatigues. A white band around his left arm with a red cross on it presented to all that he is a medical personnel, a pacifist, a healer, who was there to assist and remedy all wounds. The man goes by the name of Nicholas or simply Nick to close friends.

Coming to a slow stop, Nicholas heaved out a tired breath as he wiped at his brows and surveyed his surroundings. Even though the forest air was cold around him, he still sweated due to the large backpack that he carried, full of whatever limited first aid was provided to him. Wiping at the moisture that had accumulated on his nose, Nicholas turned halfway to see that his traveling companion was just a few steps behind, looking about curiously.

"Max?" Nick called out to the other soldier.

Maxwell, or simply known as Max, is a man who is of mixed heritage. Slightly shorter than Nicholas but no doubt much better built for fighting. He adorned himself in spiked black buzz-cut hair to accent his squarish jawline. Eyes, the colors of dark Mahogany that were hardened by the long harsh years of living throughout the flu epidemic, aimed themselves at Nicholas at the sound of his name.

"Something wrong?" Nicholas spoke out quietly.

The other man simply shook his head and let his dark eyes wander up towards the canopy, his hands held onto his M16 rifle loosely.

"Nah. Just never seen trees this big," Max responded.

Nick couldn't help but smile at the simple response. Of course his companion Maxwell wouldn't know of redwood trees this large. Max had originated from Fresno California and it was only plains and buildings there if they could remember. It makes Nick wonder though, how rough it must have been for Max to have travelled from there to where they are now. Following Maxwell's gaze, Nick simply stared up at the towering Redwoods. Considered the largest trees of North America by many and probably still is to this day, untouched by man. Now though it was the home of-

The two were suddenly startled by the sounds of explosions and gunfire that had erupted in the distance. Both Nicholas and Maxwell suddenly took cover behind a giant redwood and remained there, listening intently to the sounds that echoed afar.

Holding onto his rifle tightly, Max frowned as he eased himself behind the redwood tree. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turned his head to see Nick looking at him and shaking his head slowly whilst keeping a finger to his mouth.

"They're far," Nick spoke quietly as the sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the forest.

"It's exactly as they said," Max huffed out, turning his attention back to the source of the noise. "They are fighting… aren't they?"

Nick took a deep breath and let his gaze wander up to the source of the noise as well.

"Yeah… yeah they are."

…

 _Faster_ , the ape urged his horse while he rode away from the fighting, leaving his brothers behind to seek help, _Faster!_

The mare's hooves dug into the forest floor, tearing up clods of dirt as she raced through the woods, escaping from the screams, gunshots and explosions from behind them. She wove expertly between the trees and had leapt over logs and brambles in her stride.

Riding bareback, Spear spurred his steed on, urging her to quicken her pace. As soon as he was far enough, Spear had let out screeches at the top of his lungs, desperate to sound a warning to anyone who could hear him. He could not believe how quickly the human soldiers had come upon them. One minute he had been standing guard with Bark and Thimble, not truly anticipating any danger; the next, his longtime friends were dead, the wall that they had built, breached, and all was blood, flames, smoke and death.

The tribe needed to be warned. Caesar need to be warned of the human soldiers that were coming.

Spear ducked slightly as more gunshots echoed through the forest behind him. He hoped that his fellow apes had rallied and were returning fire at least. To his fear, it seems that the noise of the battle was following him instead of receding as he continued to gallop away from the fighting; this could only mean that a retreat was underway, with any surviving apes shooting back at the human soldier's relentless onslaught as they attempted to escape.

Spear wanted to desperately thing so.

His frantic screeches continued, warring with the pounding of the horse's hooves. Spear was starting to fear that none of his companions would hear him in time. Just as he was starting to lose his hope, his desperate cries were answered by a rising chorus of simian calls and hoots coming from up ahead and growing louder by the moment.

Relieved by the cries of his brothers. Hope flared up within Spear's chest. Quickly bringing his horse to a halt by pulling back on the reins, Spear peered through the trees that were just up ahead. Then his spirits soared on high as, heralded by the thundering sounds of hooves galloping over the earthen floor, an entire company of mounted ape soldiers came riding out towards him, all armed for combat. The charging cavalry was composed of every species of great apes, all united to defend their endangered colony from the human soldiers. Spear was impressed at how quickly his cries for help was answered by the cavalry of charging apes. All of the apes were trained well by Caesar himself.

And with good reason.

Spear grinned at the reinforcements. The black hairs bristled along his back and shoulders in an aggressive display, making him appear even bigger and more intimidating than he actually was. Baring his canines, Spear joined in the roaring chorus of his ape brothers as he raised his weapon high and pointed it towards those that he had left behind to face the guns and malice of their enemies. Together he turned his horse back the way she had came and rode alongside with his brothers, all heading back towards the trench, as one.

Apes together strong.

The humans had begun this attack first, but the apes would end it.

…

Red and the other donkeys, of the human soldier army had fallen back to keep out of the line of fire between the two forces. He watched as both sides fell to each others weapons, shot down and riddled in giant spears and arrows flying every which way. Bodies, both human and simian, littered the forest floor, while the moans and whimpers of the wounded were hard to tell apart from one another. To Red, this was nothing new to him and was all the same.

"Reload!"

Upon hearing the call of the soldier known as Preacher, Red jerked and quickly hurried towards the human on all fours, bearing his heavy pack of gear. The human had quickly retrieved whatever he had needed from the rucksack and nodded at Red. Red however had looked past the young human with the bowgun, towards the front lines of battle, where the retreating apes were being cut down by the soldiers' guns and arrows. Gorillas just like Red himself, were dead and dying upon the hillside, bleeding out onto the greenery around them. He watched the slaughter with cold acid green colored eyes and a stony expression.

Unbeknownst to Red, Preacher was staring at him quizzically before loading the fresh quiver that he had retrieved and taking a step out from behind the fallen trunk they were hiding behind, was ready to join back into the fray. Seeing the human moving forward, Red tagged along with him, but only got a few step in before a startling sight drew their gazes upward.

Two, then three trails of spiraling white smoke hissed through the air high above their heads. The vaporous streamers had then smacked into the earthen ground, rolling towards Red, Preacher and the rest of their comrades. The streamers continued to spew thick, billowing fumes everywhere, mixing in with the foggy haze of the forest. Both Red and Preacher balked in confusion at the sudden smoke that had clouded their vision.

Then he heard it: the thunderous pounding of hooves approaching.

Many, many hooves.

And this only spelled more trouble for Red.

…

The cavalry thundered down the slope of the forest, charging from within the woods, above the breached fort. The riders with slings hurled more volleys of smoke bombs over the heads of the retreating apes, causing a second wave of fuming missiles to smack down among the human soldiers. At the forefront of the cavalry, Spear relished the soldiers' obvious surprise and disarray. It was not enough to make up for all the death and carnage the human soldiers had brought to the forest, but it was a good start nonetheless. The faces of his murdered friends were still fresh within his memory and Spear's hackles bristled in rage.

The riders met the wave of fleeing apes, all were in woeful shape. At this, Spear was shocked and angered by how severely the survivors' ranks had been thinned in such a short amount of time. Upon seeing the extent of their injuries, Spear knew that many of the surviving apes will bear the scars and wounds of the human soldiers' sneak attack for the rest of their day. No longer wanting to bear witness to the atrocities that the human soldiers did upon his ape brothers, Spear had let out a war cry that broke through the clamor. The retreating apes, upon hearing Spear and realizing that help had come from them were all filled with great morale once more. Turning back around they all bared their fangs as they echoed Spear's cry with their own and fired back at the human soldiers, along with spears and arrows that soared through the air as well.

After the terrible battle, Spear had leaped onto one of the fallen logs and was surprised to have found one of the human soldiers still alive. The human, had his hands slightly raised as his eyes darted about frantically before they landed on Spear. Spear himself was not happy to see the human still wiggling with life and raised his weapon threateningly.

"No, no!"

Ignoring the human's desperate cries, Spear reached down and yanked the human up onto his own two feet. Glaring at the human, Spear was disgusted to see the human soldier looking so desperate before him. If it were up to him, he would have ended the human's life, like the others. Oh how much he wanted to run his signature weapon through the soldier. To show the human how much his kind had hurt his very own. But no matter what Spear felt now, he knew that if he killed this human, it would not bring the dead back, nothing will. Also, it was not his choice to make. For it is Caesar's. Huffing once through his nose, Spear's grip tightened around the human's clothing and he shoved the soldier forward.

…

Arriving at the scene, Caesar himself could see the grisly aftermath of the battle that had ensued. Apes were already scavenging for weapons that they could use, stripping them from the bodies of the dead human soldiers. A very distasteful task within Caesar's mind, but a necessary one in order for them to arm and defend themselves.

Along with Caesar, stood Maurice, Luca and Winter as well, the latter with a look of horror set upon his features. The younger albino gorilla stood out amidst the scenery of green, brown, black and red that littered the forest area. The others noticed that Winter was looking upon the bloody wreckage with obvious distress with him bent low and assuming a defensive posture.

Caesar wished that he could have spared Winter this horrific spectacle, but the times would not allow such mercies to an ape like him. Very promising in his youth, Winter is a gorilla that is quick of mind and strong of limb, who Luca thought highly of. However, Caesar knew that Winter could not defend their apes, let alone help to lead the colony in the future, if he was shielded from the harsh realities of the world as it was. He needed to know what the humans were capable of at their worst, to appreciate the danger that the apes had faced ever since they had first risen from captivity, before Winter himself was ever born.

It was a cruel lesson for the timid gorilla, Caesar thought, but a vital one for survival.

Even though, given Winter's hesitance it did not miss Caesar and the other apes that the white haired gorilla had been slowly improving. This was probably due to the working of an individual ape whom Winter have been fond of. With that in mind, there might be hope to Winter yet, and maybe he could be able to defend their apes in the future.

Hearing some low several sounds emitted from Maurice's throat sac, Caesar turned to give the older orangutan his attention. There was a sorrowful look within Maurice's beady green eyes as he observed the scene before him. Turning to meet Caesar's gaze, Maurice gestured to their leader before he slowly lumbered away from their group. Just a few seconds later Luca had turned his sights upon another gorilla, a few feet away from them and let out a grunting bark. The other gorilla, known as Rex, turned his eyes away from the aftermath and met Luca's. Luca had then ordered Rex and the rest of the apes that had came with them to assist the wounded, as well as the scavenging. Nodding with several grunts, Rex and the other apes behind him all spread about as Luca had wanted them to.

Once the orders were given, Caesar had turned away from the looting and slowly made his way toward the exposed trench, followed by both Luca and Winter. As he approached the trench Caesar was met with the grim sight of his ape brothers, many of them who were covering their wounds or crying in pain. Passing them by, Caesar could see every single one of their faces, burning their mournful eyes into his memories and all reaching out to him. He had wish that he could do something, anything to alleviate the pain that this war was causing his apes. As he reached out to stroke their palms, it pained Caesar every single time and with it, lit a burning fire within his heart evermore. However he had to put on a hard, stoic expression, showing no sign of fear or weakness for the apes, for he is their leader after all.

Descending deeper into the trench Caesar found himself facing another unpleasant reality. A handful of human prisoners were there, awaiting his judgement. The human soldiers were down on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs. Lowered helmets that the humans wore, concealed their faces as they stared bleakly at the floor of the trench. Among the humans stood guard a stalwart chimpanzee named Spear whom had turned around when he had noticed Caesar and the others approaching.

Upon seeing Caesar, Spear reached out his left arm in supplication, to which Caesar respectfully met before turning his hard expression upon the human soldiers. His unforgiving gaze swept slowly over the prisoner, meeting and taking in each and every one of their faces with a hard expression. As his gaze kept on going his own golden-green eyes fell upon an individual who was, not human, among with the human soldiers. The red haired gorilla, whom Caesar knew very well, defiantly kept his face turned away whilst his gaze lingered there. It saddened him greatly that Red, a once proud and great ape from their tribe, would have turned on his own. Being reminded of this treachery, brought on a great deal of anger from within Caesar himself and his gaze hardened upon the rust haired gorilla.

As Caesar kept his eyes upon the traitor ape, noises from behind alerted him of someone's approach. Slow, waddling footsteps announced the arrival of Maurice whom turned to look at Caesar, waiting for some kind of news.

" _Sixty-three dead,_ " Maurice gestured slowly.

Upon hearing this news, Caesar couldn't help but close his eyes, as he turned the other way. Sixty-three. Sixty-three apes who were fathers, brothers, and lovers to be, gone forever. Their lives taken much too early within this war. This is news that Caesar always had to bear every time there was an encounter among the human soldiers and apes themselves.

"You're him."

Caesar's eyes opened up, his gaze turning to glare at the human soldier who had spoken.

"You're Caesar," the young Latino human soldier continued. "We've been searching for you for so long. We heard you had a hidden command base, but we could never find it. Some of us were starting to think you might be dead, but Colonel McCullough said that you were out here somewhere-"

"Just kill us already!" One of the other soldiers blurted out, causing Caesar and the others to turn their attention to him.

"Shut up, man!" spoke another in a hushed tone.

"What? They're animals," the man hissed out in disgust. "He's gonna slaughter us," the soldier finished as he glared up at Caesar.

Caesar, not one bit amused by this, stepped slowly toward the glaring human soldier and met the stare with his own. The instant Caesar's eyes met the man, the slowly hesitantly turned his gaze away and shrank back a little, whilst he stood there still, looming above the soldier.

"I… did not start this war."

Upon hearing Caesar's gravelly deep voice the soldiers all had their attention on him.

"The ape who did… is dead. His name is Pope. I killed him. The other… is no longer here."

Caesar stared at each and every one of the human soldiers so that they could let what he had said, sink into their minds.

"Now I fight only... to protect apes," Caesar continued, his voice taking on an even harder edge as he turned back to the soldier that had spoken out.

"Oh yeah? What about him?" the soldier shot back by jutting his chin on over to where the captured gorilla was. "We've got ten more just like him."

Exhaling deeply through his nose, Caesar turned his gaze on over to where Red was, who still kept his head turned away during all of this.

"I know these apes. They followed Pope's ideals. They tried to kill me… They fear what I will do to them. So now, they serve you. Just to survive," Caesar continued, turning back to face the man.

"I don't fear you!"

At the sound of the new voice, everyone turned their attention to where the bound rusted colored gorilla was as he slowly and defiantly turned his head upwards to meet Caesars.

"You must fear," Red continued as he met his former leader's gaze. "How long. You think woods. Can protect you? Humans destroy kerna has all power. For them, he more than just human," Red spoke up, breaking Caesar's gaze to direct it at his former brothers before turning back. "He everything. He say: first Caesar die… then all of you die."

Upon hearing Red's last statement the apes around them all started to hoot frantically.

Hearing enough from Red, Spear stepped up to the rusted haired gorilla and struck him down. The furious chimp was going to continue to beat Red down for talking so disrespectfully in front of Caesar but a hand upon his shoulder had stopped him. Turning to look up, Spear could see his king looking down at him.

" _Take him out,_ " Caesar ordered.

Luca stepped up and then turned towards Winter who was still looking on with fear.

" _Winter, take this traitor outside,_ " Luca signed to the white haired gorilla.

Despite his obvious qualms, Winter pulled himself together and stepped forward to take custody of the turncoat. Reaching out, Winter took a hold of Red and sternly lead him away from the others.

Watching Winter take Red away from the group, Luca turned back towards Caesar.

" _What should we do with the humans?_ " Luca then asked.

Caesar then slowly regarded the humans once more, meeting them with his stern gaze.

A little while later, hands tightly cinched the knot tight, binding the prisoners' hands to the reigns of the horses that had been chosen to carry the humans back to wherever they had come from. Caesar himself watched the handiwork himself as he slowly looked up and met the human soldier, known as "Preacher's," gaze of confusion.

"You're letting us go?"

"Tell your Colonel you have seen me now… and I have a message for him. Leave us the woods and the killing can stop."

His declaration drew mixed expressions from the human soldiers. Before more could be said though, Caesar had nodded towards Spear, who gave the horses' hindquarters a swat, sending them on their way, taking the humans with them.

" _Do you think they will give him the message?_ " Maurice asked as he watched the horse taking the humans away before facing Caesar.

"They are the message, Maurice," Caesar replied, opting to speak instead. "He will see that we are not savages."

At this Maurice hummed and nodded his head.

As the humans and horses finally disappeared from view, a sudden commotion coming from the trenches caused Caesar and Maurice to both turn around. Then Winter came staggering out onto the trench, clutching his head. Blood streamed from a vicious gash on his brow, staining his snow-white pelt in red.

" _The traitor attacked me! He got away!_ " Winter gestured with one hand frantically.

Disturbed by the news, Caesar said nothing before he closed his eyes and heaved out a tired breath. Red had escaped but at least the renegade gorilla and his fellow turncoats did not know where to find them.

"Help the rest of the wounded. Then we leave," Caesar simply ordered.

* * *

 **Original Characters within this chapter:**

 **Nicholas / Nick - A human soldier medic.**

 **Maxwell / Max - A soldier that is partnered with Nick.**

 **These two guys are going to be slightly important later on but as of right now, they're just being introduced. Also, these two are named after actors that played a certain ape as well. ;D**

 **(EDIT: I forgot to add the two apes that Spear mentioned.)**

 **Bark - Spear's longtime friend. Now deceased.**

 **Thimble -** **Spear's longtime friend. Now deceased.**

 **But that's that! The beginning of War for my fic, finally. I hope you all enjoy what I have in store for you readers. In the meantime, Happy Reading!**


	51. Chapter 51

While they were all heading home, the apes, with heavy hearts made a stop by the rocky crags by the river. Taking the time to rest, the apes washed their wounds to clear them of infection, slaked their thirst and importantly, sent off their deceased brothers as well. Wrapping the bodies of their recently deceased in cloths, the apes had let the bodies of their fallen brothers flow down the river stream. Hoping that the water would guide them to somewhere safe, somewhere free from this war.

Watching the apes, Caesar couldn't help but frown deeply as he observed the mournful sight. He had sat apart from the others, save for Maurice, who joined him by the river.

"Pope, still haunts us," Caesar spoke up, catching the attention of his old friend. "And Koba's actions, as well. Why didn't I see… that they could not forgive what humans did to them. Or that such darkness were set within their hearts."

Maurice frowned.

" _No one could have known how much darkness… was living inside the both of them,_ " Maurice grunted as he explained. " _Each of their darkness is different from the other. Koba's was due to the humans who had hurt him. Tormented him. Pope was the same as well but one that had developing into wanting power. But, we were able to bring Koba back, did we not?_ "

Caesar was just about to respond to Maurice before the sound of a high-pitched horn trumpeting sounded out, alerting them all. Caesar, as well as many of the other apes, had sprang to their feet and quickly ascended the stone crags they were on, back onto the trail. The heart within Caesar's chest pounded wildly as he and the other apes around him peered tensely back the way they had come.

Had they been followed back to the falls-by humans?

They all formed a protective living shield around the still-injured apes to protect them from whatever or whoever was coming at them. Newly acquired crossbows and rifles were turned towards the entrance of the bridge, along with their spears, bows and arrows as well.

Caesar then held his breath as he saw four distinct shadowy figures, riding on horseback approaching them. Unable to see who they were, Caesar's own nerves grew taught as the figures came closer and closer, until the sun's light fell upon the faces and form of the riders-and Caesar's fears were instantly washed away by a sudden rush of happiness and relief that he hadn't felt in a long time.

The forms revealed to be four apes, who sat atop horses draped with saddlebags, slumping wearily after riding for days. Fine forest dew stuck to their hairy bodies but they were no stranger to Caesar or the other apes around him.

One of the apes, a strapping young chimpanzee with striking cerulean colored eyes, hopped down from his horse and took a couple steps forward. Old scars streaked the younger ape's chest and right shoulder but it was no doubt that it was the prodigal son and heir of Caesar's tribe - Blue Eyes.

" _Father,_ " Blue Eyes gestured with a serene smile upon his features.

Then another of the apes, this one with lively green colored eyes, jumped down from his horse as well and joined Blue Eyes' side. With fur a tad lighter in color than the prince's own, white flecks covered this chimpanzee's snout, making him stand out among the others. The son of the apes second in command and one that is loved by all - Ash, who beamed at Caesar.

" _Uncle!_ " Ash greeted happily.

Moving in quickly, a broad smile broke out across Caesar's face as he joyfully embraced both his eldest son and honorary nephew. The return of both his son and Ash, safe and apparently unharmed, was just what he needed after the horrors of the day. He hugged to two younger apes and patted their back affectionately, earning a couple chuckles from Ash himself. Finally drawing back, Caesar turned to an approaching ape and couldn't help but grin as Rocket approached and immediately he touched foreheads with the bulkier, nearly hairless chimpanzee.

"Welcome home, Rocket," Caesar said slowly as he pulled back and gave Rocket's shoulder a few pats. "All of you," Caesar continued, turning to look at the others.

" _Happy. To be home!_ " Ash responded back with his still beaming smile and glint within his bright genial leafy green eyes.

"You all look tired," Caesar commented as he turned towards Rocket.

" _It was a long journey,_ " Rocket explained with a weary but large smile of his own.

As Caesar was happily reunited with his eldest, honorary nephew and longtime friend, the fourth ape in the far back had caught his eyes. Peering past the three in front of him Caesar's gaze met the other ape's as the other turned to finally face him.

Suddenly Caesar had found himself standing atop of a giant girder, high above the human buildings in the dark night sky. He needn't look down as he could feel the heat and flames that were billowing below, sending up hot air to ruffle his already matted air. Confused as he was to find himself back here again, Caesar glanced straight ahead as he noticed another figure standing on the girder with him. The figure, an ape he could see, with scars and blood marring his body was glaring back at him with those dark green and milky white eyes that radiated fury and anger.

That figure, belonged to Koba.

"Caesar. Has. No. Place. Here…" Koba's voice echoed all around. "Caesar… weak!"

With a single blink though, Caesar suddenly found himself staring at calm golden-green and milky white colored eyes, looking back at him. The world was no longer dark and there was no fire far beneath his feet. Instead, Caesar felt solid ground with the sounds of the nearby waterfall creating an ambient noise when it met the river beneath it.

"Koba?" Caesar breathed as he broke away from the others and slowly approached the scarred bonobo.

While he silently stood there, Koba watched curiously as his leader walked towards him.

"Caesar," Koba responded, standing still as the other chimpanzee drew nearer.

The two apes finally stood in front of each other and for a long while the air was tense and quiet, with only the occasional hoots and chatter among the other apes. But then Caesar finally reached out and placed a hand upon Koba's shoulder.

"Welcome home… Koba," Caesar spoke out.

It didn't go unnoticed that the welcome that Caesar gave Koba was slightly strained to the other apes. To many who still harbored strong feelings for the bonobo, could care less. For Blue Eyes and the others who had went with Koba, they couldn't help but turned to one another uneasily. It was then Blue Eyes decided to walk up to his father and gained the older ape's attention.

"Father," Blue said aloud, catching his father's eyes. " _We found something!_ "

" _Yes uncle Caesar,_ " Ash jumped in excitedly as well, "w _e have much to tell!_ "

Caesar could tell from the two younger ape's expressions that they bore good tidings with them. With that, he was eager to hear more, but perhaps in a more secure setting.

"Come," Caesar said quickly as he tapped the two apes' shoulders and quickly turned around to leave.

...

All the apes moved then started to move about, heading toward the opening of a cave, into their hidden fortress, away from human eyes. Standing there quietly with the horses, Koba observed the apes as they all welcomed back Blue Eyes, Ash and Rocket with open arms. All cheering and shouting in excitement as they were lead away. Many apes didn't even spare him a second glance and even if they did, they were wary or disdain looks. What did he expect though? That he would gladly be welcomed back with the others, just like that? After what he had did? It was a miracle that the first things the apes didn't do was gun him down on the spot. Taking the reins of the four horses behind him, Koba started to move forward but paused when he noticed another ape that had stopped and faced in his direction.

The chimpanzee who stood several feet away from him, known as Spear, glared back at him with a deep scowl set upon his features. As if his mere presence was something to be frowned upon. Koba remembered Spear well, he was one of the young apes he had taught while they were still but learning of how to hunt within their new home. Back then, when it was a time of peace, but peace was no more. Spear had then turned around and followed the rest of the apes, leaving Koba there all alone. Huffing through his nose, Koba looked down off to the side for a mere moment before he tightened his grip upon the horses' reins and followed suit.

…

Caesar had then led Blue Eyes, Ash, Rocket and the rest of the apes toward the outer edges of the falls, where they passed through high curtains of the cascading waterfall to enter the cavernous sanctuary beyond. Many ape children all hurried forward to greet the returning warriors, while their mothers chased after them, struggling with varying degrees of success to keep their excitable offspring under control. Many of the ape males embraced their mates and sweethearts. Other adults were swarmed by their younger siblings and cousins. Tears also fell, as the friends and family of the fallen learned of their losses. Loves ones fretted over the injured and healers were summoned to tend to the wounded.

Standing there with Blue Eyes, Caesar found his beloved, Cornelia, making her way towards both him and their eldest son. Upon recognition of Blue Eyes, Cornelia's face beamed with excitement and joy as she approached, with Blue Eyes' own features lighting up as well as he spotted her.

" _Mother,_ " he signed to her.

Reaching him, Cornelia embraced Blue Eyes strongly, who hugged her back just as vigorously. A tentative yelp signaled the presence of a small chimpanzee, no more than two years old, who shyly went on over towards Caesar's other side and took his hand. Turning his head, Blue Eyes noticed the bashful toddler hiding behind his father and offered a greeting hand towards the young one, who shied away from him.

" _Cornelius, say hi to your brother,_ " Cornelia signed to their youngest as Caesar hefted the little one up. " _Don't you recognize your brother?_ "

Upon his mother's request, the little Cornelius had started to reach out to the other chimpanzee but then he quickly buried his face into his father's chest once more, to hide. But then as he peeked out slightly, he could see the broad genuine smile from the other chimp which looked a little bit like his father's and mother's smile when they did it to him. In that moment, the little ape felt something quite familiar calming from the other chimp as he took a good long look at him. Scars that ran across the other chimp's chest, shoulder and cheeks, along with those sky colored eyes reminded him of someone a long time ago. Hesitantly, he then reached out and took a hold of this other ape's hand, who in turn reached up to stroke his head and back.

" _Hello, little brother,_ " Blue Eyes greeted the younger chimp.

Seeing her two sons slowly bonding, Cornelia lifted her eyes up from the touching scene and a gentle smile appeared upon her lips. Reaching to touch her eldest son's shoulder, she then gestured to him.

" _Look who's here son._ "

Curiously turning his head, Blue Eyes discovered a lovely female chimpanzee who was overseeing the many ape children that were running about towards the other apes. She had then stopped momentarily as she sighted the prince and his family. Evergreen eyes met sky colored blues and the female gently ushered the young ones away before she turned her sights back upon the royal family.

" _Lake…_ " Blue Eyes signed the name as he slowly made his way on over towards the slighter female.

The moment Blue Eyes had stopped in front of Lake, the two simply stared into each other eyes, drinking the others gaze. They both then leaned inwards and tenderly pressing their brows together.

" _You came back,_ " Lake gestured happily, eyes becoming wet as she leaned back to look at the male before her, still not quite believing it.

" _Yes,_ " Blue Eyes responded with a small smile onto his lips.

As Lake looked upon her dearly beloved, her gaze then wandered down and she noticed that he was still wearing the necklace with the blue stone that she had given him. At this, Lake's gaze quickly glanced back up at Blue Eyes and a small gasp had escaped her.

" _The necklace, you kept it?_ " She asked, curiously.

"Yes, always," Blue Eyes breathed. " _Reminds me of you. Everyday._ "

At this, Lake couldn't help it anymore as her tears finally fell from her and she quickly hugged the other chimpanzee. Small happy whimpers escaped her as she could feel Blue Eyes reaching all around her and returned the embrace.

…

Breaking away from Caesar and his family, both Rocket and Ash had stepped further inside the fortress to look for an individual ape whom they were very eager to see. Wading through the crowd around them the two finally saw the familiar looking female chimpanzee, small, petite and fae like in size but no doubt with a personality of her own. The female was busily dressing some of the wounded apes that had come under her care and when she had turned away from her charges, her gaze had caught sight of them. Rocket stopped where he was and couldn't help but smile at the sight of the female while Ash stood excitedly next to him. The female quickly dressed the other ape's wounds before she rose from her position and approached the two, eyes glistening over with every step she took. The moment the slighter female chimp finally got to where the two males were, she had stopped and looked at each of their faces, her hands over her chest.

" _I see you, Tinker,_ " Rocket gestured.

And that was all that was needed as tears streamed down the female's face before she threw her arms, as much as she could, around Ash, embracing him tightly before she in turn did it to Rocket as well, crying all the while.

"I. See you. Rocket," Tinker said breathlessly through her tears before turning back to Ash and hugging him again. " _So long. It has been so long. But I knew. I always knew you both would come back to me,_ " Tinker wept, unable to even sign properly as she buried her form into her mate once more who cooed softly to her.

Ash had then hugged both his mother and father, knowing well that the older female needed this most of all, as she must have been worried sick for the both of them.

"Sorry mother. But we are here now. Don't cry," Ash soothed his dear mother, his own eyes becoming wet themselves.

Finally able to compose herself slightly, Tinker quickly dried her eyes and looked into the faces of her dear boys and her hope. The ones who had kept her going throughout this horrid war. The both of them look so apologetic to her, most likely because they had left her for so long. But that did not matter anymore, as long as they made it home safely, all was well in the world for her. She was just so happy to see them again.

In the midst of their reunion, a small form had approached the family and locked itself around one of Tinker's legs, surprising both Ash and Rocket. Curiously, the two males had taken a step back and eyed the newcomer, a small female chimp that looked no more to be about a year old. Curiously both Ash and Rocket then glanced up at Tinker, who didn't mind the little one holding onto her leg.

" _Who's child is this?_ " Rocket asked quizzically, while Ash had knelt down and stretched his hand out to the little one, hiding behind his mother.

A warm smile appeared upon Tinker's lips as she bent down and picked the little ape up.

"Cinder," Tinker said softly, signing the little ape's name as well. " _Say hi to your father and brother,_ " Tinker gestured.

Upon seeing what Tinker had just signed to the little chimpanzee within her arms, both Rocket and Ash stood there a look of shock overcoming their features. All of a sudden though, Ash had hooted in excitement and happily reached out to his little new sister. Rocket on the other hand, had his mouth open slightly ajar still at what he had just learned. He met Tinker's eyes and saw that they held no lies within them, before he slowly turned his attention back to the little female chimpanzee within her arms.

Rocket had then curiously reached out to the little one within Tinker's arms and she let the little ape to him. As soon at Cinder had climbed into Rocket's arms, she quickly inspected the bigger ape, curiously reaching out boldly to touch at the bigger male's snout. Seeing his daughter looking at him, the shock that Rocket had initially felt quickly disappeared, replaced with a deep sense of love and affection. He was happy, happy that he now bore another loving child with his beloved Tinker and that was more than he could have asked for.

"I have. Daughter," Rocket said slowly in awe.

"Yes," Tinker responded quietly with a motherly smile.

" _Hello, Cinder. I'm your father,_ " Rocket signed to the little chimpanzee within his arms who simply looked at his hand and reached out to touch at his fingers.

" _And I'm your brother!_ " Ash happily gestured next.

Observing the touching scene, Tinker stood by her mate's side and gently leaned her head upon his shoulder. She watched as her little Cinder finally got to meet her strong and powerful father and lovable brother. Looking up at Rocket, Tinker could see the genuine smile upon her beloved's face as he pant laughed and played with their little Cinder. After a little bit Rocket had then turned to meet her gaze and leaned down, meeting her lips with his before tenderly touching brows.

While he was there with his family and learnt of his new little sister, Ash felt as if something was watching him from afar. Slowly rounding himself, his gaze soon fell upon an ape with leafy green eyes, whose fur were the color of bright golden oaks within the summer. Upon sighting the female ape, his breath had left him and Ash quickly bounded on over to where the other chimpanzee stood.

" _Maple,_ " Ash gestured curiously.

" _Ash,_ " Maple responded, her eyes already wet and flowing.

Without anything else said between them, both Ash and Maple embraced each other strongly, with the smaller female leaning her ear into her beloved's chest to hear the strong heartbeats beneath it.

Wrapping a arm around his mate to pull her close, Rocket and Tinker could recall the early days of their own courtship with each other as they watched Ash with his sweetheart from afar. Seeing their son reuniting with Maple, they hope to see the two young chimps start a family of their own and possibly they themselves becoming grandparents one day. That is, when they do get the chance to finally have peace and be away from all of this fighting.

…

"Winter?" A voice broke among the crowd and a bonobo quickly approached the white haired gorilla.

Apes were usually stationed at the selected trenches for about five days until replacements had come for them. Glade was of the group of apes that had already been stationed there for a while and had come back to the caves just two days prior. He and many of the others had heard about the battle at the trench. He had wanted to go and help but he was one of the apes that were picked out to stay behind and protect the females and wounded.

Winter however, had been picked out by Luca, to which Glade could see a father figure to his mate, and was lead away to assist. It pained Glade every time he was separated from his gentle Winter, an ape who was not meant for bleak moments like these.

When Glade had reached the gorilla, Winter had turned his head away, a look of shame upon his features. Glade blinked up at Winter and inspected the bigger ape worriedly, reaching out to touch at the slightly still wet blood upon his mate's matted snow-white fur coat.

" _Winter, you are hurt. What happened?_ " Glade asked in concern.

After a brief moment of silence, Winter huffed and jerked his body away from Glade's hand before stomping away from the surprised bonobo. Quite taken aback, Glade stood there and watched as Winter took his leave. Lowering his gaze to the mossy ground, Glade heaved out a breath as he stood there, among the other apes around him.

Noticing someone walk up to him, Glade turned his head upwards and saw that it was Luca. Glade looked at the older gorilla for answers but Luca merely shook his head slowly in response. Peering past Luca though, Glade's eyes widened slightly when he sighted the familiar forms of Blue Eyes, Ash, and Rocket in the distance, crowded by the other apes as well in greeting. With the return of their beloved prince, hope flared within Glade as he now knows that this might be the beginning for them to find some form of peace, away from this war.

Huffing sadly, Glade turned his attention back to where Winter was slowly walking away. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Glade then decided to follow his mate and be there for him.

…

When Koba had entered the hidden fortress, almost all of the apes steered clear away from him, all except for the curious young ones who had approached. That was short lived as the young apes' parents all came in and quickly scooped their children up, swiftly walking away with glaring eyes that were directed at him. With a sigh, Koba soon found a secluded spot by the falls and sat there by himself while mostly all of the apes avoided him. Knowing well that the apes still held strong feelings resentment for him, Koba did not mind that they treated him this way.

It is how it should be.

Glancing up, Koba watched quietly as Caesar and his family emotionally embraced each other, after Blue Eyes had been away for so long. He could also see Rocket and Ash, both reuniting with Tinker and learning of a new addition to their family as well. As happy as the reunions were, there were no doubt losses as well. Koba could feel the hairs on his back raising slightly as he noticed ape families who fell to their knees as they learned of the loss of their own members. Apes who were never to be seen ever again, all because of the war between man and ape. A war, started by him, because he could not let go of his hate. Growling lowly to himself, Koba quickly looked away in shame from the crying ape families. Their pain, a little too much to bear.

While in his bitterness, Koba was then surprised when a very young ape had suddenly came up to him and touched at the scars upon his leg. Watching the little chimpanzee curiously, Koba then glanced up to see if there the little one's parent would be looking for it.

But no ape came for the child.

Curiously glancing back down at the little chimpanzee that looked no more than about a year old, Koba was then quite taken aback when the youngster looked up at him. Koba was met with silvery gray optics that seemed to be looking right through him. So stunted was he, that he couldn't help but gawk a bit at the little ape who was curiously gazing up at him.

"Silver!"

At the call of the voice, Koba watched as the little chimp looked backwards before he bolted off and leapt right into the arms of a kneeling brown haired ape. Huffing, Koba watched as the familiar brown haired chimpanzee stood up, holding onto the little ape with bright gray colored eyes. When Koba himself was sighted by the other ape, they both stood there, frozen for a moment, before a smile appeared upon the other chimp's face.

The face of an old friend, Grey.

" _Koba, welcome home,_ " Grey greeted as he walked on over.

"Grey," Koba breathed in wonder as his old friend came to stand before him.

" _I see you already met my son,_ Silver," Grey gestured, speaking the little male's name whilst signing it as well.

The last time Koba had seen Grey, was the day he had left. When he did though, the other chimpanzee had been severely wounded and it was a miracle that Grey was even able to recover, enough to get up and see him leave with the others. That was a little over two summers ago. But now, here Grey was, standing strong in front of him, with a little one in his arms and one of the apes to genuinely welcome him back, making him feel as if he were home again. At this Koba's face was filled with emotion and a warm smile broke across it as he watched Grey.

Grey on the other hand, chuckled in amusement before he reached his arm out and met knuckles with Koba. A greeting sign and show of respect towards one another, just like in the old days.

" _You, have a son now,_ " Koba gestured. " _Congratulations,_ " Koba praised his friend.

A look of pride appeared on Grey's face as he looked down at Silver and tickled the little ape, earning laughing squeaks from the small one.

"Yes. Very proud," Grey answered before turning to look at Koba again. " _Long journey. For you?_ "

At the question, Koba nodded slowly.

" _Very long journey,_ " Koba answered.

" _Then come. Come and tell us,_ " Grey gestured as he turned around and walked back into the cave.

"Us?" Koba asked curiously.

Grey stopped in his tracks and turned back around to curiously look at Koba, as if he had asked something odd.

"Yes. Us. All of us," Grey waved his arm around him at the other apes.

Koba glanced past Grey at all around but noticed that the apes were all still fawning over the arrival of the other three an unsure look upon his features.

"Took me. Long time. Too," Grey spoke up, catching Koba's attention. "Apes will listen. No time to fight. Each other," he explained.

With that, Koba closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. It was fairly easy for Grey to say something like that. Yes, Koba remembered what Grey had to do in order to keep the females and rest of the apes safe. But he did that in secret to save them, not hurt them like he did. What he did, it was out of revenge, hate and anger. Something like that... it could never be forgiven.

"Koba."

Koba opened his eyes and met Grey's dark green ones, whom shook his head slowly.

" _Apes will listen. Give them time,_ " Grey simply explained.

Staring at Grey for a long while, Koba huffed and turned his head away for a moment. After a few heartbeats though, the scarred bonobo had glanced back in Grey's direction and met the other ape's reassuring face. It was there that Koba knew that Grey was not going to leave him be and let things sit like that. Huffing in amusement, Koba slowly nodded his head and walked up towards Grey.

Nothing else was said between the two old friends. Grey simply expressed a smile before he led Koba back into the hidden fortress and away from the edge of the falls. Ready, to hear the tales of what has happened to his old friend and the rest of the traveling companions.

* * *

 **Lots of reunions within this chapter for everyone, hope you all enjoyed it. In addition to this there are a couple of new apes as well which are introduced as OCs. These are...**

 **Cinder - Rocket and Tinker's new child and little sister to Ash. She has a very bold personality, something she's definitely inherited from her father.**

 **Silver - Grey and Cedar's second child and little brother to Maple. I don't believe we've had grey eyed apes yet so this little one gets them.**


	52. Chapter 52

The apes' council room was a cavern that was set deep within the fortress. Mounted torches illuminated the grotto, throwing flickering shadows onto the rough-hewn walls. The apes of Caesar's council had all convened to hear what Blue Eyes, Ash, Rocket and Koba's expedition had discovered while they were away. They were conscious of the never-ending threat posed by the increasingly aggressive humans. It was due to this, Caesar had dispatched his eldest son, honorary nephew and friends to discover what lay beyond the besieged forest of their home.

Now the apes had gathered all around, in a circle as Blue Eyes, Ash and Rocket laid out a map upon the floor using various drawing to indicate many different things on it. Not joining the three curiously enough, was Koba, who sat by the edge of the council stone platforms and quietly looked on instead. The three little ones, Cornelius, Cinder and Silver all chirped happily as they played and danced around at the edge of the map. It was then Blue Eyes had enthusiastically pointed at one spot in particular on the parchment before looking up to meet everyone else's faces before finally landing upon Caesar's.

" _This place,_ " Blue Eyes signed, " _it is beautiful here._ "

Luca hummed as he pondered at the map before looking up at the other three.

" _You are all sure there are no humans anywhere near it?_ " he had asked curiously.

" _None,_ " Rocket insisted. " _We have checked all around for many days._ "

" _Nothing but trees, rivers, birds, animals and a big lake too,_ " Ash signed in before he turned to look at Caesar. " _You will like it, uncle Caesar. All of you,_ " he gestured to all the apes around them with a happy smile.

Caesar beamed at Ash's enthusiasm but then caught the gaze of his eldest.

" _This is it, Father. We can start over. A new home for our people,_ " Blue Eyes signed confidently.

Caesar was very much encouraged by his son, Ash, and Rocket's report, but was careful not to raise his hopes too high or too soon. Age had taught him caution, and the danger of jumping to conclusions too soon. Acting without thinking too often led to disaster. Caesar himself had learned that many years ago when he had angrily lashed out at a human for the first time, soon finding himself confined to a cage as a result.

" _What is beyond these mountains, son?_ " Cornelia asked next, as she pulled Cornelius closer towards her, as did the other mothers of the children.

At this, Blue Eyes had then faced Ash.

" _Show them, Ash._ "

Ash's face lit up and he quickly grabbed a leather pouch off to the side, from the floor and thrust his hand inside. The white flecked chimp then drew out a handful of golden sand and spilled it dramatically onto the map between the images of the mountains and their proposed new home.

" _A desert, mother,_ " Blue Eyes signed. " _We had to cross it, too. The journey is long, but that is why the humans will not find us._ "

" _Because it is too far for them. They will not risk it,_ " Ash continued with Blue Eyes' statement as he moved back on over to where Maple was, the brown haired female leaning her head upon his shoulder the moment he had sat back down.

Upon hearing this, Caesar and the rest of the apes were proud to see how much Blue Eyes and Ash had grown and matured since they were last seen. This in part was of course the guidance of Rocket and-

" _We must leave tonight!_ " Winter gestured suddenly, huffing and puffing, causing all eyes to be on him.

" _Tonight?_ " Lake protested from her place by Blue Eyes' side, " _That's impossible._ "

" _How long can we wait, Lake?_ " Winter signed agitatedly. " _Human soldiers are getting closer everyday._ "

From Caesar's vantage point, it was very obvious that the day's atrocities and Red's venomous words had shaken the young gorilla even more than he himself had realized. The bonobo, Glade, next to Winter was letting out soft coos to calm him down, but to no avail. He then saw Blue Eyes reaching out to Winter, placing a comforting hand upon his arm.

" _Winter,_ " Blue Eyes began.

Winter had then pulled his arm away from Blue Eyes, rejecting the reassurance from his prince, sparking a chorus of hoots from the surrounding apes, with Caesar standing up to glare down at the white haired gorilla. After a few heartbeats, Winter then lowered himself back down in submission, while Blue Eyes curiously glanced back and forth from his father to the ape beside him, whilst Glade did the same.

" _Your son's been gone, Caesar…_ " Winter signed hesitantly in shame. " _He nor Ash knows how hard it has been._ "

Ash frowned at that, but Blue Eyes instead reached out towards Winter once more. Feeling the ape prince putting a hand upon his arm, Winter met Blue Eyes' gaze, who offered him a comforting smile.

" _Winter, I know you are scared,_ " Blue Eyes signed to the slightly older gorilla. " _We all are, but we are still planning._ "

" _We have to find a safe way out of the woods first. Find a time where humans soldiers will not attack us when we move,_ " Ash cautioned as well.

"And we must be careful," Koba suddenly said aloud, causing all heads to turn towards him now.

There was a murmur of hoots and chatters as the scarred bonobo spoke, but he kept his gaze firmly upon Winter and the other apes of the inner council circle.

"The desert is dangerous for apes too. We need to prepare. For all," Koba finished with a grunting growl before rounding his head to look elsewhere.

"Yes," Caesar said this time, as his slowly looked away from Koba and toward the rest of the apes. "There were only three… four of you. But we… are many," he finished with a gesture all around him before sitting back down.

At this, Winter seemed to understand and lowered his head in shame.

As Caesar kept his raging eyes upon Winter, Cornelia had then reached on over and placed a comforting hand upon his. Caesar met the reassuring gaze of his beloved for a moment before he placed his hand over Cornelia's and turned back to the others.

"We will find a way out of here," Caesar announced before he placed his hands together. "Apes together strong."

With those spoken words, a growing chant and chorus of apes rose with him as apes of all species put their hands together as well. And off to the side, Koba had even brought his hands together, if hesitantly.

…

Later throughout the evening drums pounded rhythmically above the roar of the waterfall as twilight began to fell over the forest. The entire population of the colony, young and old alike mourned the deaths of their warriors that had fallen in battle today. Many of the mourners chanted along with the drums as they set wildflowers upon the river, letting it guide the petals to their lost loved ones.

Accompanied by his friends and family, Caesar watched his apes solemnly from afar. The pain in his golden-green eyes was not lost on Maurice who had joined him.

" _You feel responsible,_ " the orangutan signed.

"I am responsible, Maurice," Caesar said grimly before switching on over to sign. " _Our youngest have known only bloodshed from this war._ "

" _But you did not start this war,_ " Maurice continued. " _Just like you've said to the human soldiers._ "

At that, Caesar's eyes darted on over to where Koba sat, alone, watching the mourning apes as well. The scarred bonobo was hunched over with his arms resting upon his knees, an unreadable look upon his face.

" _No… I didn't,_ " Caesar answered.

Maurice followed Caesar's gaze before he slowly turned back toward his old friend a worried glint within his beady green eyes.

" _Do you… blame Koba?_ " Maurice asked curiously.

Taking a deep breath, Caesar closed his eyes. He would be lying if he said that he didn't blame Koba for leading the attack so long ago. Even as much as he knew the truth that Pope had been the mastermind of everything and pulled the strings. It was still, in the end, Koba's hatred of the humans that led them into this situation. He had thought that maybe he would have forgiven the bonobo a long time ago, on many occasions. But as the battle drew on and on, Caesar had found it more difficult for him to forgive the actions of the scarred bonobo.

"I don't know," Caesar responded honestly, still unsure on how to feel about Koba while still keeping his gaze upon the scarred ape.

Maurice couldn't help but frown while exhaling deeply upon hearing that from Caesar. The colony had been even more tense now since the ill hated ape had returned to their ranks. Many of the apes did not know how to properly react to the bonobo's reappearance. Many of course, still bore that deep seated hatred for the scarred ape, for what he had done to ruin their peace. Most of them completely forgetting that Pope was the mastermind of it all as it was explained. But seeing is believing and what the apes saw, was Koba leading them into war and that in itself was enough.

Before more could be said between two, Caesar had bid Maurice a good night before getting up slowly and made his way on over to where Cornelia was. Cornelia herself had been silently weeping as well as she listened to the cries of the mourning apes and couldn't help but feel for them too. With Caesar by her side however, the ape leader reassured his beloved mate by tenderly placing his brow upon hers. Joining the two was Blue Eyes, who had eventually left Lake's side to be with his parents as well and the small family embraced each other at the sight before retiring for the rest of the evening.

Watching Caesar and his family leave, Maurice had gotten up to rest in his own dwelling as well but as he moved away, he had caught sight of Koba. The scared bonobo was looking at the direction of where Caesar and his family had disappeared to with a solemn expression on his face. Taking a deep breath, Maurice shook his head slowly and wondered what could have gone so wrong before slinking off further into the fortress.

…

In a secluded spot within the colony was a big nest and sitting within it was Winter who had a frown upon his features. Next to the gorilla sat Glade, who was busily cleaning up the wound upon the gorilla's head while grooming him at the same time. As Glade gently applied the wet cloth upon the offending scar, he felt Winter suddenly flinch away at his touch.

"Sorry! _Did, Glade hurt you?_ " Glade asked apologetically.

At this Winter huffed and glared at the bonobo next to him.

" _You should have agreed with me!_ " Winter signed angrily.

Glade blinked a few moments before he set the wet cloth down into the bowl next to their nest,slowly.

" _Agreed with Winter?_ " Glade asked, not understanding what his mate was talking about.

" _That we should have left tonight!_ " Winter grunted.

At this, Glade stared at his mate with wide green eyes before his brows furrowed.

" _No, Winter. Glade should not have agreed,_ " Glade gestured back just as frustrated. " _How would we move colony, if apes were to suddenly get up and leave? There is no planning to what you have proposed. There is still much to be done and prepared. We need to know what we need to do before we go through desert. Like the others have said._ "

" _You mean like what Koba said,_ " Winter signed back, causing Glade to simple stare at him.

Glade then lowered his gaze off down to the side while he lowered his arms.

" _Yes… like what Koba had said,_ " Glade responded slowly.

" _Then we find out on the way!_ " Winter huffed, his eyes glaring at his mate with a wet sheen to them. " _I don't see why we can't just leave. If we don't go soon, then the human soldiers will come and find us. Kill us..._ "

At this, Winter's shoulder finally slumped and his gaze lowered down towards the ground as well. He then saw a hand, with two missing fingers, came into view and it placed itself under his chin, lifting his head up so that he was meeting his beloved's eyes.

" _What is going on with you, Winter? You never act like this before?_ " Glade asked worriedly.

Winter huffed quietly as his eyes darted down to look at Glade's hand, the one with the missing fingers. He had remembered well the day when Glade had came back from one of the skirmishes, the bonobo cradling his left hand close to his body. When Winter had ran to this side, he was horrified to find that his beloved had been wounded during said fight. Glade had winced in pain but kept up a brave face and smile at Winter, telling him to not worry. Winter however was deeply saddened to see Glade wounded like this and had quickly hugged the bonobo close to him. He had wanted then, to stop fighting entirely, afraid to lose someone so dear to him.

Glade noticed that Winter was looking at his wounded hand again and he simply smiled comfortingly at the ape in front of him.

"It okay, Winter. Not hurt anymore," Glade reassured.

Winter's eyed darted up to meet the bonobo's before he lowered them back down to look at the other apes hand. With a sigh, Winter let go of his mate's hand and turned away from him. While he had looked away from Glade, memories of earlier events came back to him.

Winter had just taken Red away from the other human captives as he was told and had led Red to a secluded spot outside.

"You fight. For losing side!" Red grunted as he was made to kneel in the grassy spot.

Winter stopped momentarily before he huffed and moved forward, tightening the bindings upon the other gorilla.

"You will die," Red started slowly, turning his head so that he met Winter's eyes. "All apes die."

Winter frowned but put on a brave face.

" _Not if apes work together. Unlike you,_ " Winter gestured back.

"You think apes. Will win. Winter?" Red asked in a haggard voice. "You think. You protected? No. Winter will be seen first. By humans. Like always."

At this, Winter briefly hesitated and flinched at Red's words.

"Winter, weak ape. Always will be. Apes will abandon you first. You are nothing. But target. For humans," Red continued.

Huffing, Winter looked down to the side quickly before meeting Red's angry gaze.

" _Apes won't abandoned me. We are all together. Strong,_ " he signed back.

"You think so?' Red asked. "Then why they send. You away. With me?" Red asked glaring up at the hesitant Winter. "You will die. And apes. You love. Will die."

Then, all of a sudden, Winter heard something behind him and he turned around to see who had approached. To his surprise, he saw no one coming. Curiously Winter peered around to see if there were any apes to come relieve him of Red but saw no one. Confused, he slowly turned back around, but as he did, something had struck him across the head and knocked him backwards, causing him to see blotches within his vision.

With a groan, Winter had gotten back up and rubbed at his head, finding that it was very wet. Curiously he had looked down at his hand and immediately panicked when he saw blood upon his fingers. Looking back up to where Red was, Winter found the spot empty and ropes all cut. Panicking, he had then rushed back to Caesar and the others as soon as he could.

As the memory started to fade Winter thought he could hear some kind of burbling sound coming from beside him.

"Winter!"

With a gasp, Winter had then turned towards Glade's voice, whom was looking at him with concern.

" _Winter, you okay? You were not responding to Glade,_ " Glade signed worriedly.

"Fine," Winter grunted waiving it off.

The albino gorilla had then got up slowly and picked up one of the human guns before he glanced back at his mate who kept his gaze upon him.

" _Have to go,_ " Winter gestured. " _Must patrol._ "

Glade lowered his eyes and nodded slowly, understanding that it was the Gorilla Guards duty to patrol the hallways of their hidden fortress all night long for dangers unknown. With nothing else said between the both of them, Winter turned around and left the bonobo all alone there within their nest. Heaving a deep sigh, Glade turned to look at the bowl next to him and could see the wet red cloth with the now dirty water as well. With a sniff, Glade glanced back up at the entrance where his mate had just left through. Sighing, Glade then stood up and picked up the cleaning bowl and cloth. Looking around their den, he paused momentarily to reminisce the time that he and Winter built out their secluded spot. It was a time where they could stay with one another in peace, away from the others and forget about the dangers of the world. That time has since now passed with a deep breath breath, Glade moved on to clean the bowl within his hands.

…

Much later, Caesar had found himself in his private dwelling in the fortress nestled within the comfortable bed that he himself had build with his bare hands. He was unable to sleep that evening. Too many thoughts were flowing through his head and it had kept him awake. Instead, Caesar had decided to take the map drawing that Blue Eyes and Ash had presented and looked it over once more.

While studying the map Caesar had heard a distressed chirp to his side, causing him to look down to his right and see Cornelia and their youngest slumbering beside him. The one to have made the noise was none other than Cornelius, whom Caesar had reached out to rub a thumb over the young ape's brow to calm him in his sleep. Looking on over towards his left, Caesar found Blue Eyes resting soundlessly. He couldn't help but smile warmly at his oldest child, so proud of him of what an ape Blue Eyes had become. Caesar himself suspect that maybe Blue Eyes would soon seek new lodgings of his own, to share with Lake in the future. But for now, he savored having his family all in one place, close to him, safe and sound.

Turning his head to look at Cornelius and Cornelia once more, Caesar had reached out toward his mate as well but then stopped. Green light suddenly filtered through the cave and danced all around them. Noticing the anomaly, Caesar glanced in the direction of the waterfall and saw several dark shapes, veiled by the falling water, descending past the opening and quickly dropping out of sight.

Blinking in confusion, not entirely sure of what he had just seen, Caesar slowly rose from his bed, careful to not wake up Cornelia and his children. Approaching the wall of water, Caesar could see something quite peculiar. Reaching out through the frigid waters, Caesar grabbed at the thing and yanked it toward himself, away from the cascade. Looking at what was in his hand, Caesar then saw that it was a rope.

A red climbing rope.

Letting go of the thing, it suddenly dawned on Caesar of what the rope had meant. Making his way back towards the nest, Caesar found Blue Eyes looking at him curiously with a tired and confused face. Caesar instantly placed a finger to his mouth and neared his eldest.

" _Stay here son. Protect your mother and brother!_ " Caesar signed urgently.

The sleepiness disappeared from Blue Eyes' face when he grasped that the situation was deadly serious. Without another word to his son, Caesar slowly made his way toward the entrance of their den before dropping down onto all fours and speeding down the stony hallway.

The further into their fortress Caesar made his way into, the harder his heart pounded within his chest. Making another quick run, Caesar ran a corner, coming upon a huge hulking figure. Startled, he stopped in his tracks, alarmed, only to hear a deep, familiar grunt. Luca was standing guard in the corridor, cradling a rifle in his large arms, who had pointed it at Caesar before recognition took over and he lowered the weapon. The silverback peered at Caesar in surprise, no doubt wondering what Caesar was doing, prowling the fortress at this late hour.

" _Caesar?! What's wrong?_ " Luca asked curiously, noticing that his leader was out of breath.

" _How many on patrol?_ " Caesar asked quickly.

" _Five? Six?_ " Luca responded, unsure of why Caesar was asking such a thing.

" _Get them!_ " Caesar gestured quickly.

Sensing the urgency from his leader, Luca nodded with a grim face and turned around.

"Luca!" Caesar spoke up, catching the gorilla. "Get Rocket too!"

With a nodding huff, Luca finally turned around and left, doing as he was asked.

…

Blue Eyes watched cautiously as a figure slowly entered into their dwelling. Behind him was his mother and little brother, both fully awake and grasping the situation they were all in. With spear in hand, Blue Eyes turned to look at his mother and brother and placed a finger to his lips. Both nodded and kept themselves behind him as he slowly turned back around to look at the human that had just invaded into their home.

As the human entered the room not noticing that Blue Eyes was up on the wooden nest above, he slowly raised his spear and took aim when the human walked right under them. Without a sound Blue Eyes then threw the spear down at the human, knocking them down before he jumped on them and quickly finished the job by repeated beating the body beneath him.

Blue Eyes stood, panting, over the body of his victim. Looking up, he saw his mother, a look of horror and relief upon her face as she saw the human body and then Blue Eyes himself, unharmed. Blue Eyes couldn't help but heaved but offered a small smirk up at his mother and little brother. His triumphant smile was short lived however, when he noticed another flicker of green light dance across the stones. His body freezing up, Blue Eyes slowly turned his head around.

…

Rocket had woken from his peaceful slumber and tiredly looked around the nest that he was in. He couldn't help but smile when his gaze fell upon his beloved Tinker, little Cinder and Ash right beside them. Reaching out, Rocket fondly placed his hand upon his children's brows and then took a hold of Tinker's hand. While watching his beloved family, the sudden urge to relieve himself overcame him and Rocket couldn't help but groan inwardly, cursing himself for drinking too much before laying to rest. Hoping to take care of this need quickly, Rocket silently got out of the nest and made his way down the rocky tunnel.

After relieving himself at the edge of the fortress, Rocket had slowly made his way back towards his sleeping quarters but was startled when saw a shadowy figure roaming the stone hallways. Luckily the figure was looking the opposite direction and Rocket quickly dove down toward the side of the stony hallway. Hugging the walls for cover, Rocket's face hardened as he peered deeper and noticed that the figure was swinging something to and fro with a green beam of light emitting form it.

Hearing a soft scuffle across from him, Rocket turned his head, worried that this human soldier was not alone. He was quickly relieved as another ape, Koba, came into view. The bonobo's dark form was slightly illuminated by what moonlight filtered into the tunnel. Rocket didn't know how or why Koba was up and about in the stone corridors, but he was glad that it was him instead of another human.

" _Stay,_ " Koba quickly gestured toward Rocket. " _Humans here._ "

" _How?_ " Rocket had then asked.

" _Don't know! Killed one already by Grey and his family's den,_ " Koba signed back.

Rocket nodded and gestured down the tunnel before he slunked into the shadows and quietly followed.

"Lima four to command. Colonel, did you…"

Before the man could finish what he had said, powerful hands, many times stronger than any humans. Grabbed the soldier from behind and smashed him into the granite walls. Flesh and bone crunched against the unyielding stones. Silenced muzzle flashes strobed the corridor as the human's finger involuntarily pulled the trigger in a terminal spasm. The rifle flared briefly before darkness reclaimed the passageway, even as the soldier landed in a heap upon the floor.

There was a huffing sound as Koba could be heard running up right behind Rocket and made a skidding stop next to the nearly hairless chimpanzee. Both were panting as they looked down at the dark form on the ground before flickering torchlight entered the hall. The red, orange and yellow glow of the lights soon fell upon both Rocket and Koba, both whom was standing over the body of the dead soldier. They looked up at Caesar and Luca as they arrived.

"Rocket? Koba? What happened?" Caesar asked quickly in a hushed tone.

" _I heard him talking,_ " Rocket signed and pointed to the body. " _The Colonel is here!_ "

Caesar's eyes went wide this news. Taking the torch from Luca, he came forward to take a closer look at the dead human. As he neared though, he had found that Koba was already there, looking down at the body. Caesar hesitated briefly, shaking away his feelings for the moment and knelt down next to the scarred bonobo without a word. The light from his touch revealed the face of one of the soldiers that Caesar had spared earlier. He couldn't help but frowned at himself, realizing that his moment of mercy had only granted this soldier a few more hours of life-and possibly endangered them all.

Static crackled and Caesar turned his head to see that Koba was holding onto the dead man's headset, a voice coming from it.

"99, target acquired."

The headset buzzed again within Koba's hands, the voice much more clear now.

"99, target acquired. Repeat. King Kong is dead. Let's go. I can get out from here." The voice said.

As Caesar listened to the transmission, his face dropped and eyes grew wide with mounting horror, knowing that there could be only one "him" that the soldiers were after.

They came for him.

But… if they got him then that means…

"Caesar?" Koba breathed, confusion written on his face as he still held onto the device.

Panicking, Caesar dropped the torch before rounding himself and bolting right down the stone corridor, through the fortress. He practically bounced off of the walls, leaving Rocket, Luca, Koba and the others behind in his desperate haste to get back to his den even as he feared that he was already too late.

"Caesar!" Rocket called out to the other chimp's retreating form.

Seeing Caesar bolt off like that, confused Koba. What did the voice mean? That they had killed King Kong? Furrowing his brows more, he thought a little more on it. The humans had snuck into the fortress but did not shoot at any of the apes, as far as he is concern. But they were all going about, as if they were looking for something… searching for something, or rather… someone. At that, something clicked into place and Koba's eyes went wide.

They had come for Caesar!

But if they had gotten an ape, like the voice had said… then that means. It suddenly felt as if someone had poured ice cold water onto Koba's body.

"No…" Koba breathed, dropping the headset onto the ground.

As Rocket and Luca looked at each other in confusion, a clatter grabbed the attention of the two, causing them to turn around before another form had suddenly shot pass the both of them and the other apes. Looking to see who it was, Rocket and Luca saw Koba running on all fours, down the stone hallway as well, following after Caesar's trail.

Rocket and Luca couldn't help then but glance at each other curiously before they too followed after Caesar and Koba.

…

Sitting down and staring simply at the ground in front of him, Winter pondered over of what was discussed earlier at the ape council. He recalled on how he acted at the meeting. Was he so wrong in asking them to leave immediately? The sooner they had escaped from danger, the sooner they would be safe, right? But the more he thought on it, the more it made less sense for him to have been so rash at the situation, not taking into consideration of the other apes. Blue Eyes and the others had just gotten back and nearly all the apes had just suffered a great loss. This was not time for them to be hasty at all…

Heaving out a shuddering sigh, Winter then placed his head within his palms. He must have looked like such a fool in front of the other apes. He was so afraid, so fearful for his own well-being, that he had tossed out the idea that they all needed to rest and prepare first. It was just that two summers, two hole long summers of never ending fighting. The constant pains, hurt, grief and loss. They were all starting to become too much for him. And maybe… maybe Red was right.

They will all die.

Whimpering to himself, Winter feared what he would do if Glade was not here for him. But even after finding out that he was a coward, Glade stood by his side. The only one who know who he really was and yet still loved him unconditionally. Treating him as an equal and not judge him for what and who he is. He felt absolutely terrible for arguing with his beloved earlier and simply left him within their den. When he gets back after his patrol, he would make it up to Glade somehow, he was sure of that. Not just Glade but he would need to apologize for his unruly behavior to Caesar, Luca and the others as well.

While Winter had sat there with his thoughts a strange green light had bounced off of the walls of the rocky hallway and danced around him. Blinking curiously, Winter turned his head and was quite surprised to see a figure entering the other end of the tunnel, a gun pointed right at him. Winter's heart dropped when he saw that the figure was none other than a humans. A human soldier with a bright green light pointed right at him. Heart thundering within his chest, Winter's green eyes darted down to the gun that was laying right next to him. He was just about to move but then the human fired their weapon and it nicked Winter right on the shoulder, causing him to howl in pain and fall over to his side.

Gasping, Winter reached up to touch at his wound and hissed in pain before he rolled back around and watched with wide horrified green eyes as the human rushed at him, going to finish the job. So scared was Winter, he tried to back peddle away from the human, hooting out in fear. The human then fired their gun again, the bullet striking the stone right next to Winter's face. Howling in freight, Winter shut his eyes tightly as he braced himself for more pain. But all of a sudden, he instead heard something clattering upon the stone ground right next to him along with loud grunts.

Snapping his eyes open, Winter saw first that the firearm that the human was carrying was now laying a few feet away from him. Then the sounds of grunts had caused him to turn his head and he was quickly surprised to see two figures rolling on the ground, wrestling with each other. Winter saw a brief flash and saw Glade's angry face as the bonobo bared his fangs as he rolled on top of the human and began striking his would to be murderer over and over again.

The human had managed to kick Glade off of them before they reached into their vest and pulled something out. Glade noticed this and reached out, taking a hold of the human's arms and whatever they had pulled out. The human however, was able to free one of their arms due to Glade's uneven grip in one hand. Winter then saw something flash within the human's hand before they ran it towards Glade. There was an audible grunt from the bonobo before the ape let out a menacing growl and took a hold of the human's head and forcefully slammed it into the stone wall. With that done, the human's body fell back to the ground and began to convulse sporadically.

Hesitantly, Winter winced at his wounded shoulder but still got up slowly. Taking a few steps, Winter approached the bonobo and looked down at the human body. Huffing, Winter could see that the human's face has been crushed under extreme force and was still slightly jerking. Even under the red light of the torch lights, Winter himself could see that the human would not be getting up anytime soon. Turning away from the terrible sigh, Winter then slowly rounded his head to look at his mate. To his confusion though, Winter noticed that the bonobo had a pained look upon his face.

Glade met Winter's gaze before slowly looking down at himself. Following Glade's eyes, that was when Winter saw it. There was something strange sticking out of Glade's abdomen. The bonobo reached up and took a hold of the thing before he grunted and pulled the thing out of him. To Winter's growing horror, Glade had pulled out a rather long looking blade that was coated in dark red liquid. Dropping the blade onto the stony ground with a loud clatter, Glade glanced up at Winter with wide green eyes before his knees buckled underneath him.

"Glade!? Glade!?" Winter cried aloud as he reached out to hold the bonobo as the older ape fell, ignoring the stinging sensation in his wounded shoulder.

Quickly sitting down, Winter cradled Glade close to him as he looked up and down at his beloved within his arms. The bonobo's body was spasming within his hold and grunting in pain with eyes shut tight. Looking around, Winter had let out hoots, calling for aid of any kind as warm liquid was now spreading across is body as well.

This was not happening. This was not happening.

Winter had let out another series of alarming hoots that echoed throughout the hallway as tears finally fell from his eyes. Suddenly a shaky wet hand placed itself upon Winter's cheek, causing him to freeze and quickly glance back down at the ape within his arms. There in the red light, Winter could see Glade's pained face. However, the bonobo was smiling up at him.

"No. No. Glade," Winter whimpered as he met his beloved's eyes. "No, Glade. No…"

Glade then reached up with a hand and took a hold of Winter's head, bringing it down so that their foreheads tenderly touched one anothers.

"I… love… you. Winter" Glade breathed out every strained breath. " _I always love you,_ " he signed as he pulled his head back.

Shocked at what he was hearing Winter was shaking his head side to side again, whipping droplets of his own tears around him while doing so.

"Love Glade. Too," Winter wept. "Always."

Hearing that from Winter, a serene smile appeared on Glade's lips once more as he lovingly met his beloved's gaze.

"Always," Glade breathed.

Winter gently placed Glade's hand upon his cheek and leaned into it, like every single night that they had been together and stared deeply into his beloved's green forest colored eyes. Slowly, Winter listened to his beloved's breathing as it started to slow down. Eventually the bonobo's breathing had stopped altogether, body going slack within his hold and the light within Glade's eyes disappearing as it broke their gaze.

With a shuddering breath, Winter had let Glade's hand fall from his cheek and reached on over to slowly close the other ape's eyelids. With trembling hands, Winter then hugged Glade close to his own body and gently rocked back and forth on his spot, on the grounds of the stony hallway.

…

After what felt like ages of running, Caesar finally burst into his dwelling just in time to see a figure fishing out the rope from the waterfall and clip it to an anchor on their belt. The figure casually looked back around as he had heard him. Then, for the first time, Caesar had finally laid eyes upon the human's leader.

The Colonel.

The man's eyes widened at the sight of Caesar, and his gaze darted away from Caesar to something on the floor. Caesar tracked the man's gaze, to see what he was looking at to only discover-

There in the corner by their nest, Blue Eyes was sprawled lifelessly on the ground, eyes closed and a wound upon the ape's head, not too far from the body of a dead human soldier. Cornelia's own body lay beside him, both laying on top of a pool of crimson red.

Time froze for a moment as Caesar's entire world came crashing down on top of him. His breath left him hollow and his body reeled unsteadily, every single muscle going weak, until he lifted his eyes to see the Colonel still standing there.

His family's murderer.

Red hot fury gripped Caesar, baring his fangs at the man, he gritted his teeth tightly and bared his fangs at the human man who had just killed his son and wife. The Colonel hastily swung his rifle in Caesar's direction and began firing. The ape leader quickly dove for cover behind the nearest large rocks as bullets zoomed past him and bounced off of the stones. The rifle's muzzle flared brightly and the bullets chipped away at the stones of Caesar's hiding place, who feared that it wouldn't be long before his shelter gave out.

Suddenly another ape came into view of Caesar's peripheral and he could see that it was none other than Koba. The scarred bonobo, having already heard the gunfire as he came running in, aimed with something in his hand and threw it at the Colonel. The man briefly had time to see what was thrown at him, but he had ducked his head to avoid it being struck by the projectile. He then focused his fire upon the new ape and pulled the trigger to his rifle. Already knowing that he would be targeted, Koba ducked back into the hallway of the stone corridors for cover.

While the Colonel was shooting at the two threats before him, the sounds of furious ape roars rushing toward the dwelling convinced him that a strategic retreat was in order. He then jumped off of the ledge and began firing into the stone hallway as the apes approached, hoping to take as many out as he could while he was pulled away toward safety.

His eyes upon the bodies of his family once more, Caesar's anger grew once more and he quickly sprang from his cover to charge after the Colonel, roaring all the while.

"Caesar!" Koba called out, but his voice was ignored as the chimp leader barreled on pass him and flung himself into the falls after the Colonel.

Intent on revenge, Caesar barely noticed the cold water striking his body as he plunged through the falls., hundreds of feet above the churning river far below. His flailing hands grabbed onto the rope, causing it to swing wildly beneath his weight. Holding onto the cable, Caesar glared up at the Colonel, who was already high above as he ascended toward the top of the falls.

The sudden jerk of the rope alerted the Colonel, who looked down to see Caesar furiously climbing up towards him. The man tried to shoot at Caesar but due to the violent jerking of the rope and cold wetness from water, he had only got a couple of shots off but they had missed. Too angry at the deaths of his wife and first born, Caesar reeled back and punched at the man, successfully knocking the rifle out of the Colonel's hands but at the cost of him sliding a few feet more down the robe that they both hanged on.

Seeming unfazed by Caesar's determination and anger to get to him, the Colonel drew out a bladed knife from one of the pockets in front of his vest. Caesar had already hastened himself to climb back up the rope towards the man who had killed his family, almost reaching him. As Caesar watched on though, with one fell swoop with the blade in the Colonies hand, he had severed the line between him and and the ape king. With that, Caesar then plummeted towards the raging waters far below.

Caesar had hit the water hard, the impact knocking the breath from him, while he sank below the rushing foams. The sudden immersion came as a jolt to his senses and Caesar kicked and splashed frantically through the dark waters toward the surface. Gasping for breath as he breached the water's surface, Caesar reached out to grab at anything that would halt him from being carried away from the waters. His hands landed smack upon a mossy rock and he clung onto it for dear life. Once he had a good grip on his anchor, Caesar quickly glared back upwards towards the fall, only to see the Colonel disappearing over the top of the cliff, hundreds of feet beyond his reach.

* * *

 **... I'm so sorry.**


	53. Chapter 53

After Caesar had jumped out of the den after the Colonel, Koba was about to jump after but then he stopped himself as both of them swung away from him, now out of reach. He couldn't do anything but watch helplessly as Caesar climbed up after the human. After that, Koba couldn't see clearly at what had happened. But he did know one thing. After a few moments, Koba saw what looked like Caesar falling towards the bottom of the river and with that his heart dropped as well.

While the others behind him were chattering loudly, Koba had turned around and was about to leave when his eyes caught on something that made him freeze in his tracks. It was as if he had entered into a terrible dream, one that was much worse that his torture devices that were used on him so long ago. There on the ground, surrounded by blood, were the bodies of both Blue Eyes and Cornelia.

"Blue Eyes… Cornelia?" Koba murmured quietly and dropped onto his knees.

Was this why Caesar had chased after the Colonel out into the waterfall? Why the ape king had ignored his cry to stop. At the thought of Caesar, Koba looked up from the bodies toward the waterfall and remembered that his friend had fallen into the river, far below.

Taking another heartfelt glance down at the bodies, Koba shut his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth together before he had to rip himself away from the two, forcing his legs to carry him through the fortress. Grabbing a torch along the way, Koba rushed out of the colony, hidden behind the waterfalls by himself and frantically looked around the river's bank, in hopes of finding the fallen ape.

"Caesar! Caesar!" Koba called out, over the sounds of the rushing waters.

He was beginning to lose hope that they had all just lost Caesar too. That was… when a silhouette had caught his good eye, emerging from the darkness. Lifting the torch a bit higher over his head, Koba could see a very drenched looking Caesar, approaching him.

"Cae-"

Koba had reached out to the other ape but was seemingly ignored as the chimpanzee rushed pass him and bolted straight back into the fortress without a word. Huffing, Koba turned around slowly and simply stood there as he watched Caesar's form disappear around the corner. Closing his eyes, Koba then lowered his head before slowly making his way back into the fortress.

…

When Caesar had gotten back into his den, he slowly walked on over to where the bodies of his wife and firstborn was and sat at the edge. He watched in silence as eventually, the bodies of both Cornelia and Blue Eyes were then lifted away from the blood-stained stone floor, along with the body of the dead human female soldier, whose remains were treated with considerably less reverence. Still soaked from the plunge into the river, Caesar sat there motionless, sinking into a whirlpool of pure grief and rage as his beloved wife and firstborn were both carted away by attentive apes. Caesar's closest friends-Rocket, Maurice and Luca - stood beside him in this time of tragedy, but Caesar was too overcome by emotion to even acknowledge their presence. Only the volcanic intensity of his gaze hinted at the all-consuming fury growing inside him. His heart felt as hard and deadly as the bullets that had killed his loved ones.

Rocket huffed through his nose and turned toward the others beside him.

" _How did they find us?_ " he signed. " _How did they know where Caesar slept?_ "

" _I don't know, only apes knew,_ " Luca signed back whilst shaking his head in bewilderment.

It was during this time that a couple more gorillas entered the dwelling and reported to Luca. While Luca listened to the two others, he had shot worried glances in Caesar's direction as they delivered their ominous tidings.

" _We found everyone at their post,_ " one of the gorillas signed.

" _And?_ " Luca signed back.

" _It's Winter,_ " the other signed as well. " _We found him, but..._ "

At this, Luca grunted at the two younger gorillas impatiently and they both glanced at each other nervously before they gave the leader of the Gorilla Guards the ill news. As Luca watched them sign to him, his angry features slowly melted away into that of shock and sorrow upon learning on what had happened to Winter.

" _How is he?_ " Luca asked finally, once they were done reporting.

At the question the two gorillas glanced at each other again before meeting Luca's gaze with their somber ones and shook their heads slowly. Luca lowered his eyes as he huffed and nodded, thanking the two younger gorillas and dismissing them.

It was at this time, Rocket had come over and knelt next to Caesar.

" _I'm sorry, Caesar,_ " Rocket signed to his old friend.

At this, Caesar's face twisted in sorrow momentarily before he collected himself.

" _Have any of you found Cornelius yet?_ " he asked slowly.

Rocket and Luca glanced at each other before the gorilla hesitantly looked back in Caesar's direction.

" _We're still searching,_ " Luca promptly answered.

At this Caesar slightly nodded his head before letting his attention wander back to the spot where Blue Eyes and Cornelia's body laid.

" _Come everyone. Let's go look for Caesar's little son,_ " Maurice gestured to all around before ushering them off.

Caesar silently thanked Maurice for giving him the chance to grieve for his loved ones in privacy. He very much appreciated the gesture as the older orangutan herded the others out of the cave, leaving him along with his sorrow.

And his anger.

Caesar waited for his tears to come, for them to flow for his loss, but his desire for revenge burned too hot to allow for weeping. His seething gaze traveled to the spot where he had found both Blue Eyes and Cornelia laying upon the rough, cold floor. Their spilled blood had seeped into the stones beneath, leaving the stain of murder upon it. Caesar then noticed Blue Eye's spear still lay upon the floor not far from where his body had rested. The blood on the weapon's tip showed that Blue Eyes had died trying to protect his beloved family, but this was cold comfort to his father.

Noticing a glint on the ground, Caesar crouched on over to inspect the things. Reaching down, he picked up a brass bullet casing and glared at it, unable to look away from the evidence of the murder site. Another physical proof to show Caesar himself that this was not another nightmare, but cold hard reality. A terrible nightmare that he will never wake up from, letting him know that both Cornelia and Blue Eyes were gone for good.

"Caesar?"

Eyes slowly widening, Caesar dropped the shell casing in his hand at the voice, with the metal clinking upon the stone floor. Just as quickly the rage burned tenfold within his chest as his brows furrowed, slowly rising onto his feet. Caesar then rounded himself, casing his seething glare upon the individual who had approached him.

Koba.

"What are you doing here?" Caesar spoke up, his voice raising with each word.

Koba's eyes met Caesar's when the ape leader spoke but the bonobo gritted his teeth before he took a step forward.

"Caesar I-"

"What!" Caesar suddenly bellowed, causing Koba to stop his advances. "Are you! Doing here?!" Caesar seethed.

Koba swallowed before letting out a shuddering breath.

"Caesar. I-I'm sorry," Koba apologized.

"Sorry?!" Caesar asked, taking a few steps and stopping right in front of the bonobo. "Sorry will not bring my family back, Koba!"

As Caesar had shouted this, he had marched up towards Koba and shoved the other ape back, hard, causing the bonobo to lose his footing and land upon the rough stone ground beneath him. Unexpectedly, Koba then felt a heavy body jump on top of him and was then yanked upwards to meet Caesar's burning golden-green eyes.

Looking into the angry features of Caesar's, Koba was then reminded of something that was quite familiar to him. With a blink, and instead of Caesar glaring at him, it was he himself that was baring his fangs. Dark green and milky white eyes that burned with with a fire, like the one that bellowed up through the human tower, so long ago. With a huff and another blink, Koba was then met with the features of Caesar again who then slammed the bonobo back down onto the stone beneath them, hard.

"I warned you!" A fist met Koba's cheek. "Told you!" the other side of the bonobo's face with met with a punch as well. "How many apes will die?! We had one! One chance for peace! But your hate… your anger caused the death of many apes! Including Blue Eyes and Cornelia's!" Caesar shouted as he continued to strike at the bonobo underneath him, angry tears finally flowing from his eyes. "You. Did. This!"

The ape king then latched his hands around Koba's necks and squeezed as hard as he could at the ape's throat beneath him. Koba gasped and reached up to pry Caesar's hands off of him. Gasping for breath, Koba stared at Caesar with pleading eyes, but instead was met with furious anger. Instead of trying to pry Caesar's hands off of him, Koba instead released his grip and simply met Caesar's gaze with his, resigning to his fate. If this was going to make Caesar happy, then so be it. Let him be the first to die at Caesar's hands, so that it may bring relief to the other ape, if a little.

Caesar bared his fangs and applied more pressure, he was not expecting to have been suddenly tossed off of the bonobo. Rolling back up onto his feet, Caesar looked around quickly and was surprised to see Rocket standing there, between him and Koba, face in a stern frown.

"Move, Rocket!" Caesar growled.

"No, Caesar. I. Will not," Rocket growled back.

" _Your protect him? After all he's done?_ " Caesar gestured.

" _Yes, I do,_ " Rocket huffed, as he signed. "Ape. Not kill ape," Rocket said.

At this words, Caesar's eyes widened momentarily before he face turned into an angry scowl once more. It was only moments later when Caesar saw Maurice and the others returning, confused by the yelling that they had heard. There they saw Caesar having a standoff with Rocket, and behind the nearly hairless chimpanzee, Koba who was getting back up into a sitting position and coughing all the while.

" _Caesar? Rocket? What is going on?_ " Maurice asked.

There was no answer from Caesar but Rocket raised his hands instead to answer the older orangutan.

" _I came back to check on Caesar and found him attacking Koba,_ " Rocket simply gestured, keeping his stern green eyes on his old friend still.

Maurice looked back and forth between all of the apes in the room before he was able to piece together what had happened and stepped in.

" _Blue Eyes and Cornelia's bodies are not even cold yet. Caesar, you should know better,_ " Maurice reprimanded. " _This is a time of mourning, not fighting. This solves nothing._ "

"No," a grave voice interrupted Maurice.

Everyone rounded their heads to the ape who had spoke and saw that Koba was rubbing as his neck while he stood up, coughing all the while. He wiped away at the blood that was oozing from his lips and nose with the back of his arms before he hesitantly glanced around. Collecting himself, Koba looked down at the blood on his palms, his face bruised and bloodied before he slowly met Caesar's glare.

"Caesar… is right. I… I did this. M-My fault," Koba spoke raggedly.

At this, Caesar continued his glare but the others only stared at Koba worriedly.

" _My hatred… it caused this war... and death of many apes. Including Cornelia's and Blue Eyes,_ " Koba signed with shaky hands. " _I-I'm sorry Caesar. I am so sorry, everyone._ "

"Koba…" Rocket breathed as he watched the bonobo apologizing.

All of a sudden, everyone was startled by a faint sound. Caesar was quick to react, as he snarled and snatched Blue Eyes' spear, whirling about to confront whoever dared to invade his home. So intense was his rage, his burning rage, his need to avenge his family, that it took him a moment to realize the small form who was peeking out fearfully from a shadowy crevice in the rocks. The form of his terrified child who shrunk away from the intimidating sight of Caesar brandishing the spear, with his fur bristling aggressively.

Shocked back to his senses, Caesar slowly lowered the spear and was stricken by the frightened look on his little son's face.

"Cornelius!" Caesar breathed heavily in relief as he stretched his arms out to his little one.

The young chimpanzee hesitated before he quickly ran on all fours into Caesar's open arms. The ape king then pulled his little son into a tight embrace, his heart aching at he felt Cornelius's tiny body trembling against his while crying into his chest.

"You're safe now," Caesar breathed in relief.

Watching both Caesar and Cornelius reunite with each other, Maurice looked away and gestured for them to all leave once more. To give the father and son some peace and privacy in their loss. As everyone slowly filed out, the last ape to have left was Koba who kept his gaze upon the father and son duo. The bonobo slowly turned his head on over to where Blue Eyes and Cornelia's body lay, before rounding his gaze back to both Caesar and Cornelius. Hearing a hushed hoot from behind, Koba turned and saw that Maurice, Rocket and Luca were waiting for him. Sniffing, Koba wiped at his bloody nose again before he eventually followed the others out of the room.

…

The makeshift raft was pushed out onto the river and with it, carried the bodies of Cornelia, Blue Eyes and Glade. The apes that they had lost tonight to the human soldiers attack. From the edge of the shore, with Cornelius in his arms, Caesar watched as the raft carried away his beloved wife, his eldest son and good friend. He hoped that wherever the river takes them, it was to someplace peaceful, one without strife and anguish like what he was feeling now.

Within Caesar's arms, Cornelius cried loudly as he reached out towards his mother, not knowing why she was being cast out towards the waters. He then felt his father hugged him closer protectively, with the bigger male placing his snout upon his head.

Off to the side, Ash could only stare on with wide wet green eyes as he watched Blue Eyes, Cornelia and Glade all float away on the river. It was like a horrible dream to him, to see his extended family and a good friend, gone forever. He'd hoped that maybe, just maybe Blue Eyes, Cornelia and Glade were only sleeping and that they would just wake up when he saw their bodies… but they didn't. Hearing sniffing sounds to his left, Ash could see his beloved weeping silently as she too watch Blue Eyes, Cornelia and Glade float away on the river. Slowly looking around, Ash could then see Lake and her family mourning as well, Lake even more so, at the lost of her sweet heart. Ash's nose twitched before he looked away and saw both Luca and Winter standing by the shore. The latter of the two looking so defeated and silently watching as if in a trance.

Wrapping his arms around Maple to comfort her, or maybe to comfort himself, Ash allowed his beloved to lean into him as she cried. Unbeknownst to him as well, were the wet trails on his own face, making him realize that he was silently shedding tears for his own. At his own loss. A loss of a friend, a loss of a honorary mother and a loss of a brother… It hurt. It hurt so much and Ash himself didn't know how to deal with it. Instead, he merely hugged Maple tighter towards him as he leaned his snout upon her head, body trembling all the while.

How could one night have turned out so horrible for them all?

...

Watching the raft flow away on the river from a secluded spot up in the fortress, far away from all of the rest of the apes, Koba stood alone. He had since dressed his wounds, but now, something inside him hurt even more than the beating he had received from Caesar.

Memories of Cornelia, one of the first to have welcome and accept him into their lives. The way she had accepted him as who he was without question. Treated him like a brother and loved him dearly as if he had been family to her, her whole life. Blue Eyes the young prince who he watched come into this world and awe their colony with the most beautiful of eye colors. A young strapping chimpanzee who he helped raised, as if he were his own son. The only other ape to have willingly tried to speak to him during their first time to journey southward, even knowing all that he's done. Finally Glade, another ape and same species like Koba himself. One who was gentle, patient and kind to others, no matter who, what and how they looked, he treated them all fairly and respectfully. They're all now gone. Dead. All because of him and his hatred towards humans. Humans how had, in the past, hurt him and tortured him.

As he was bombarded with those memories, the first thing that happened to Koba was the shortening of his own breath as he breathed in and out quickly, with eyes going wide. Along with that, his body shook, so much that Koba himself had fallen to his knees and crossed his arms over his torso as he was suddenly wracked with violent tremors. He then screamed. Screamed along with the roars of the falling waterfall beside him that drowned out his cries into the night as his whole being was filled with guilt and sorrow.

…

As the night drew on well into the morning, preparations for the exodus were already underway. The entire population had spilled out of the fortress onto the riverbank as apes of every species hurriedly loaded up caravans of horses with what provisions and possessions they needed. It is very much a ambitious undertaking, but none questioned its necessity; especially after last night's invasion - and the deaths of Caesar's wife and heir - had been more than enough to convince all of the apes that the fortress was no longer safe for them.

Many of the apes turned their heads when they saw Caesar making his way through the crowd, holding onto Cornelius's small hand. He found his inner circle waiting for him further down the river, at the front of the exodus. Rocket, Maurice, Luca, Grey, Andy, Ash and Koba, who was a bit further away from the group, watched him as he approached with Cornelius in tow. Caesar regarded all of them, except one, before he made his way on over to where the others were. Tinker, Judy, Cedar, Lake and Maple in particular gazed down at the young Cornelius, offered the little one a reassuring smile before they all met Caesar's eyes.

"Tinker," Caesar addressed the slighter female holding onto her own child, whom straightened up herself at her name. "You were like a sister to Cornelia. Can I ask you to watch over him… until I return."

Caesar's voice was gruff, his expression stoic and hard. Only his eyes betrayed how hard this was for him - and the anguish he carried.

"Caesar," Tinker breathed, her voice a little hoarse from disuse but full of emotion nonetheless. " _Why do you even need to ask? Of course I will look after him as my own. But… are you not coming with us? To our new home?_ "

"No." Caesar said simply before he glanced back down at Cornelius and knelt in front of his little son. "Go with your aunt," Caesar said softly as he handed Cornelius's hand to Tinker's.

Standing back up, Caesar then turned his attention to Lake and Maple who both stared back with their emotional eyes.

"Lake, you loved my son," Caesar said to Lake, before he turned towards Maple. "And Maple, you were Blue Eyes' friend. Please help Tinker look after his brother."

Lake sniffed as her own eyes welled with tears once more. She quietly nodded gravely and signed back to her would be father-in-law.

" _You have my word, Caesar._ "

" _We will,_ " Maple signed as well before she reached on over to hug Lake close to her.

Turning to walk away, Caesar was then stopped by Maurice's grunting noises from atop of his horse.

" _You're not going after them are you?_ "

Caesar's face grew stern and he slowly raised his head to look up at Maurice upon his own horse.

"Not them. Him," Caesar replied, catching the others attention, especially that of Koba's.

" _Caesar, you are our leader. We can't leave without you!_ " Maurice explained urgently.

Softening his features, Caesar rounded himself to look at his last son who cried out and reached for him but was quickly held onto by Tinker, trying her best to soothe him.

" _Caesar, look at your son. He needs you,_ " the orangutan continued, looking at both father and child. " _We also need you. We trust you to lead us._ "

There was much wisdom to Maurice's words, Caesar knew this well, but his friend failed to realize just how furiously the rage within him burned. There was nothing left inside him except the need for vengeance. He could be no father to his son, nor a leader to his apes, as long as he was like this. With rage and hatred consuming his heart.

"I no longer trust myself," Caesar confessed to his friend before a stern look of resolve overcame his features. "The soldiers will be back soon."

Ripping his gaze away from Cornelius, Caesar then turned his attention to his closest friends around him. He then realized, that the apes will need a new leader, someone who can take command of them all and make the right decisions. After a few heartbeats, Caesar knew exactly who to asked and walked on over towards Rocket.

"Rocket… can you lead-"

"No," Rocket said so suddenly it surprised Caesar.

" _I will not lead our apes Caesar,_ " Rocket signed.

"But you were alpha before, Rocket. Why?" Caesar asked.

" _You have asked me for many things before, Caesar and I have always done them. But this? I cannot,_ " Rocket explained as he looked around.

Seeing that Rocket will not accept his offer he then turned to look at Luca and Andy, both shaking their heads at him as well. Looking around he then spotted Grey in the corner of his eyes and he approached the chimp who had saved their apes from danger before.

"No, Caesar," Grey spoke up as his king approached.

Frustrated, Caesar glared at the brown haired chimpanzee.

"Why?" he asked.

" _This is not right. You are still alive. Here and now. You should lead the apes, not one of us,_ " Grey explained as he handed Silver to Cedar. " _Like Maurice has said. The apes need you. Even if you do not trust yourself._ "

Caesar huffed and looked away from the other chimpanzee before he closed his eyes and thought long and hard about it. All these points were valid but he just couldn't shake this want, this need for vengeance off himself. Opening back up his eyes, Caesar's gaze soon met that of Koba's, the bonobo sitting off all the way by the shore by himself. With that his anger burned once more.

"The soldiers will all come after me. That may give you all the best chance to get out of the woods safely."

With that said, Caesar made his way off to one of the horses to the side, leaving the others to decide who to lead for him.

" _Where is he going?_ " Spear asked as he had just came up to the group from making his rounds and saw Caesar leaving.

Quickly running up to Caesar, Ash slid to a stop by the ape king's side, who was just about to get on one of the horses and met his gaze.

"Uncle?" Ash breathed, a worried look upon his features.

"Ash."

Caesar's features softened as he turned to look at the younger chimpanzee. The only other thing left that reminded him of his dear Blue Eyes. Ash, his honorary nephew, and Rocket's son and maybe the apes final hope in having a proper good leader, who is full of aspiration, is strong in body and mind in the toughest of times.

"Caesar… Where are you. Going?" Ash asked.

Caesar did not answer the younger ape and instead looked at the forest in front of him for a long while before he rounded his gaze to meet Ash's, a solemn smile upon his face.

" _Ash,_ " Caesar signed at the white flecked chimp, making sure that the younger male was looking at him. " _Help your father and uncles lead the apes. Keep them all safe. You understand? No matter what._ "

At this Ash's eyes widened and he slowly shrank away as he thought on it. After a few heartbeats, Ash met Caesar's eyes once more and nodded solemnly, accepting the responsibility without protest.

"When… when will you come back?" Ash asked this time.

"I don't know," Caesar responded. "Very soon, I hope."

Caesar then reached out and affectionately placed a hand upon Ash's head, like he did when the ape was but a youngling, so very long ago. He then tenderly touched his forehead with Ash's, putting all his trust and hope within this young one, that Ash would lead all of the apes to their new home safely. Getting upon one of the horses, Caesar regarded Ash to his side one more time.

"Stay alive and be careful."

With that Caesar kicked his heels into his horse's side and left his friends-and his son-behind him on the shore of the river's bank. He could feel their eyes upon him as he rode away.

But he did not turn back.

* * *

 **Caesar might be a little out of character when he attacked Koba in this chapter but we have to remember that he had just lost two loved ones and is on a emotional high right now. Hope you guys and gals are liking the story still.**


	54. Chapter 54

Caesar rode along through the forest, a gun held in his right hand and the reigns to his horse held in the other. For a while it seemed as though Caesar had the woods to himself until the sounds of horse hooves beating the ground could be heard behind him. Turning his horse around, Caesar waited patiently within the wood's trail. Soon enough, he could see three apes riding from the far end of the trail. Maurice, Rocket and Luca trotted toward him on horseback, openly defying his decision to embark on this quest alone. The riders came to a halt only a few yards in front of him, braving his frowning scowl and smoldering glare.

He was not happy to see them as this was his risk to take, not theirs.

Shaking his head slowly from side to side, Caesar was going to tell them to go back but was stopped when Luca spoke up first.

"Human soldiers. Always moving," the silverback said deeply. " _My guards think they know where they are. Let me take you._ "

" _And you need me to back you up!_ " Rocket gestured in next.

"No," Caesar said firmly.

" _Caesar,_ " Rocket signed. " _I may not know what it is like to actually lose a son... but I almost lost one myself. I know it is not the same. I do. But let me help you._ "

Rocket's heartfelt plea gave Caesar pause as he remembered a time where Rocket had almost lost Ash himself.

To Koba...

"I may not make it back," Caesar responded after a long silence.

" _That is why I am coming,_ " Maurice gestured now, with slow hand movements, making sure that Caesar was looking at him. " _To make sure you do._ "

Caesar realized after a moment that his friends would not be dissuaded any more than he would if he were in their positions. And for a moment, his features soften momentarily as he met each of their gazes. Bowing to the inevitable, while hoping that he was not leading them to their deaths, he nodded and was about to turn his horse back the way he'd been going before, but stopped when they all heard a distant clip-clopping of horse hooves reaching their ears, preceding the arrival of another ape on horseback. They had all turned around and saw the approach of a dark chestnut colored stallion, who galloped towards them before slowing down to a stop as his reigns were pulled by the ape on top of him. They all stared in silence as they regarded the ape who had just rode in with a rifle strapped onto his back. One whose eyes were milky white and golden-green, like Caesar's.

"What are you doing here, Koba?" Caesar growled.

Koba lowered his gaze for a moment before turning his eyes up and meeting Caesar's on fully.

"To make things right," Koba explained.

"You can't make things right," Caesar said lowly. "Leave."

Koba shook his head side to side slowly, his features, that of guilt, sympathy and concern to Caesar's own stern and cold one.

"No. I won't leave you," Koba said slowly.

"Won't leave me? Caesar spoke up as he brought his own horse closer toward Koba's, never breaking eye contact. "Then I will make you leave."

There was a long moment of silence between the apes as the air grew silent around them. Rocket and Luca glanced at each other uneasily, the former hoping that another fight wouldn't break out. However it was at this time that Maurice had decided to step in.

" _Let us not fight one another,_ " he signed. " _The day is going and the colonel is moving further away._ "

Caesar regarded Maurice for a moment before he shot Koba another hateful glare, whom the bonobo met with his own solemn ones.

"Please," Koba breathed. "I have done things. Terrible things that I regret. Let me go with you," he begged.

There was another long silent draw as Caesar now stared at Koba with a look of disgust before he growled out in frustration, knowing well that no matter what he says or do, the bonobo will still follow.

"Do what you will," Caesar spat out as he turned his horse around the way he had been going before and began riding away.

With that Luca and Rocket soon followed, leaving just Maurice there with Koba who kept his eyes on the group in front of them before he slowly turned to look at the orangutan. Maurice seemed to give Koba a knowing look, before he closed his eyes slowly and nodded at the bonobo before making his horse follow. Koba on the other hand took a deep breath and after a moment of hesitation, glad that Caesar and the others didn't force him back, trailed after them.

…

Riding on silently, with many things crossing his mind, Ash kept his eyes upon the back of his horse's head as he led the exodus. It had been a long while now and he could remember, as if only a minute ago, where his father, Luca and Maurice were by his side. But of course, they couldn't let Caesar journey on alone and therefore they followed the ape king to wherever he was going.

Taking a deep breath, Ash then glanced up at the sky as his mind wandered back to Blue Eyes, slowly remembering their talk, so very long ago.

They had just found the perfect setting after traveling for so many moons. It was a vast area, full of trees, not as big as the ones back in their old home, but close enough, and a giant lake to fulfill all their needs. There was an abundance of vegetation as well, full of different kinds of animals too. Making this new place their home will take some time, but time that is worth it for them.

A place far away from the humans.

Walking up to Blue Eyes, Ash slumped on down next to his honorary brother and had let out a tired hoot into the air.

" _We have walked for many days around this new land and still so many things to see!_ " Ash gestured happily before flopping down onto his back.

At this Blue Eyes had smiled at his dear friend before regarding the white flecked chimp beside him.

"There are many new things here," Blue Eyes spoke up, agreeing with his friend. "Maybe, this is the place, Ash. Our new home."

"I think so too!" Ash announced joyfully as he sat back up with a broad smile upon his lips.

Blue Eyes smiled back but as Ash watched his friend smile at him, his own features faltered and his brows furrowed in worry.

" _Blue Eyes?_ " Ash signed. " _What's wrong?_ "

Blue Eyes huffed and reached up to take a hold of the blue stone that hung around his neck, a gift from his beloved, as he turned away and looked at the giant lake in front of them.

"I think… I will die soon, Ash" Blue Eyes said solemnly.

A bewildered look overcame Ash, straightening himself up after he had heard his friend said those words. The lighter furred chimpanzee peered at his friend who was still not looking his way and was still staring at the large lake in front of them. After a few heartbeats, Blue Eyes took in a deep breath and slowly rounded his head to regard his friend.

"Why? What makes you think that?" Ash asked quickly, concern lacing his voice.

At this, Blue Eyes glanced away once more and slowly shook his head.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, unsure of the sudden feeling.

At that, Ash did not know how to answer or reply to Blue Eyes. What had suddenly made his friend think of such a thing was beyond him. He was here now wasn't he? Here and alive. That is what mattered, yet Blue Eyes' mind still thought of death. Turning himself fully to face Blue Eyes, Ash took a hold of his friend's head and brought their brows together.

"Don't die," Ash breathed with his eyes closed.

Pulling his head back, Ash stared deeply at Blue Eyes and he could see the turmoil set within his friend's face.

" _Living things die, Ash. Nothing you can do, can change that,_ " Blue Eyes gestured.

"Yes. Things die. But we," Ash spoke up as he gestured towards all around them. "We live too."

Ash then reached out and took a hold of Blue Eyes' shoulders.

"So much to still live for. Blue Eyes. Your family needs you. Lake needs you. I need you, too… so don't die," Ash pleaded.

Blue Eyes had taken a ragged breath and met Ash's gaze, about to say something but instead huffed out in defeat and nodded. Before more could be said about the two, there was a hoot and the two chimp saw Rocket and Koba approaching from the distance. Ash spared Blue Eyes a momentary glance to which the sky eyed ape smiled, prompting a bigger grin to appear on Ash's one features. The two then turned towards the two older apes and met them halfway.

Blue Eyes had swore to him that he wouldn't die… yet, the moment both he and his friend arrived back… Ash couldn't bear it no more as he looked down at his hands, bunched up in tight fists and his teeth gritting, causing the muscles around his jaws to bulge out. Feeling a hand wrap around his, Ash was snapped out of his thoughts and he turned his attention to Maple beside him, whom had a saddened look upon her features.

" _You alright, Ash?_ " Maple asked slowly, noticing the distraught look upon her sweet heart.

Ash blinked at his beloved before he took in a deep breath and offered her a warm smile instead.

" _Yes. Just thinking,_ " Ash replied with slow sad movements.

At this, Maple didn't need to ask to know what Ash was thinking about and simply nodded quietly as she leaned her head upon her beloved's shoulder. She knew well that Blue Eyes was more than a friend to Ash. Those two were as close as brothers and it was hard to imagine one without the other. Now it was just Ash and it hurt to see him looking so lost and alone, even with her. Oh how she wished that they had not lost their prince and queen during the night.

…

The party rode in silence for a time, as they made their way through the woods. Soon enough the five of them came out of the forest and approached the bay's side, eventually coming upon to what appeared to be a small farm of some sort. Stopping by the edge of some mounds, Luca then huffed and pointed to the shack with smoke billowing out of it.

" _My guards think that the soldiers are here,_ " the silverback signed. " _Always fire burning._ "

The others turned toward Caesar, waiting on what he was going to do. The ape leader however, merely grunted and rode forward, paving the way toward the distant smoke. Rocket, Maurice, Luca and Koba all glanced at one another before eventually following Caesar down toward the shore, as well.

They all slowly rode into what looked like a small farm of sorts with run-down dilapidated shacks, docks, and boathouses with most of the paint peeling as they were exposed over the years to the elements. Seaside shrubs and grasses were overgrown, climbing up the sides of the shacks as if nature were reclaiming what was once a man made place. Overhead hanged a wooden sign that welcomed visitors, its words faded through time. The place felt so… empty and devoid of life. The one exception to any sign of anything still alive there was the smoke that still spewed out gently from one of the shacks that seemed to be better maintained than the rest.

Getting off of their horses, the apes then decided to crept around the area on foot. Looking around briefly, Rocket had then approached Caesar.

" _No one here,_ " Rocket gestured as he kept his wits about.

"Search the area," Caesar ordered.

Koba looked around, feeling uneasy about the place and couldn't shake off this feeling that he was having. If this Colonel's army was here, then why would they stay in such a run-down place? Maybe this is not where they really should be? He himself found it unlikely that this Colonel and his troops would be able to cram themselves within such an area. He then made his way on over to where Caesar stood.

"Caesar, I don't like this place. I don't think it has the Col-"

"Then you can leave!" Caesar cut Koba off.

The malice within Caesar's voice did not go unnoticed upon the others as they watched their friend glare right at Koba before walking past the bonobo toward the side. Still feeling the hatred from Caesar's words, Koba couldn't help himself as he dipped his head a little. The way Caesar was lashing out at him, it was understandable. His friend. His Caesar, had just lost nearly all of his family and there was nothing he could do to bring them back.

Watching Koba quietly, Maurice then chose to lumber on over to where the bonobo stood.

" _Come, let us look around,_ " the older orangutan suggested calmly with a small smile upon his lips.

Koba blinked when he saw Maurice's signs and then met the orangutan's eyes. Ever since he had gotten back from their journey, Maurice had been one of the very few apes to have not shunned him. Even now, the older orangutan was doing his best to ease the situation at hand to the best of his abilities. For Maurice's kindness towards all, Koba was grateful for.

Moving aside, Koba let both Maurice and Luca moved on forward, while Rocket had walked up to him and placed a reassuring hand upon his shoulder. Looking at the bulkier chimpanzee, Rocket tilted his head a little to which Koba lowered his gaze. Huffing out, Rocket gave Koba a few pats and silently followed the others as well. Standing there for a few moments longer, Koba glanced in the direction that Caesar had disappeared off to and decided that it was best to not follow the fuming chimpanzee and trailed after the other three.

Just as they all rounded a corner the four of them came to a halt when they saw a lone human emerging from the trail to the beach, bearing an armload of wood. The human looked… dirty, unshaven with tattered clothing, clinging onto his body. A look that did not suit as what the apes would consider a human soldier that they were used to. This human, looked more like a ragged survivor as the man regarded the apes in front of him and swallowed hard.

However, survivors will do anything to live, especially that of humans and Koba knew that well. Slowly, his hand was already inching toward the rifle that was slung around his back.

"I'm just gonna put this down," the man said, indicating the wood in his arms as he slowly began to lower his burden.

The man abruptly dropped the wood and reached behind himself to whip around the hidden rifle that he had strapped behind him. Koba was quick to react as well as he snarled and was already rounding his weapon toward the human. Before Koba could fire his gun and before the man could even aim his to the apes in front of him, there came a loud resounding report off to the side.

They all saw as the man fell backward onto the ground, his own gun firing off into the air before it landed right beside him. Turning their heads slowly, the four apes could see the barrel of a gun slowly emerging from one of the shacks and with it, Caesar himself.

Koba watched as Caesar turned his attention towards them, regarding them with a face that was impassive and stern, showing neither anger nor remorse toward the human he had just killed. A look that eerily reminded Koba of himself. He then realized that the slaughter of Caesar's family had broken something within his dear friend, and it might well be that Caesar would never be truly whole again. A tender portion of Caesar had died that night as well, along with Cornelia and Blue Eyes and is now being controlled by his anger… much how he himself was, with Pope.

Lowering his weapon, Caesar had walked past the others without a word toward the lifeless body of the human he had just killed. After a little bit, he was then joined by the others as he observed the dead human, noticing the AΩ symbol that was crudely tattooed onto the man's neck.

The symbol of his family's murderer.

Luca glanced around, seeing no indication of other humans about. Turning to the others he signed in confusion:

" _What's he doing out here alone?_ " he had asked.

" _Maybe he is a deserter?_ " Rocket shrugged, whilst shaking his head side to side.

"Maybe," Koba spoke up this time. "But now we won't know," he indicated to the dead body.

A muffled crash, coming from the shack, caused all of the apes to turn their heads toward the source of the noise. Within moments the five of them barged through the door, knocking it off of its hinges as they held their weapons at the ready, all except Maurice who peeked from behind. Sunlight lit through the murky interior of the shack, but its inhabitant could not be seen. Looking around the apes saw various broken jars and other stored foods that was spilled out onto the ground, signaling that there was someone here at least.

With their guns still drawn, they all cautiously entered the shack, on guard in case there were any sneak attacks. The interior of the shelter was narrow and cramped, hardly big enough for even Luca to move about but they moved on. Seeing a door at the far end of the shack the made their way there, sure that whoever was still within this place was hiding there.

Caesar turned back to regard both Rocket and Luca behind him, ignoring Koba and gestured for them to be ready. Within a few seconds, Caesar was the first to burst through the door, slamming his shoulder into the cramped bedroom, sweeping the muzzle of his gun in front of him, in case of any surprise attacks. Rocket, Luca and Koba quickly filed in right after the ape king and looked around as well, making sure there was nothing to attack them.

At the sound of a noise, Koba swung his gun around, like the others and pointed it at something that curled itself at the end of what looked like a bed. Breathing through gritted teeth, Koba's eyes fell upon the figure.

Instead of a soldier, poised to attack, the apes found themselves staring down at...

A scared little girl, cowering like a frightened animal in the bottom half of a bunk bed, a blanket pulled over her small frame.

Heart thumping within his chest, pumping adrenaline through him still, Koba swallowed hard as his rifle was still aimed at the little girl. Heaving, Koba blinked a few times before he let his gaze wanted on over toward Caesar to see how the other chimpanzee was taking this piece of news. The look on Caesar's face showed that of shock, unsure of how to handle the situation that laid before them.

Soon enough a shaggy orange hand had then reached out and rested itself upon the barrel of Caesar's weapon, gently forcing it down so that it was aimed at the floor instead. Then another hand reached out and lowered Koba's as well. Then both Rocket and Luca followed as they also felt no need to aim their weapon at a defenseless human child.

Standing there, Koba steadied his heartbeats that pounded away within his chest, calming himself down before he glanced from Maurice, to the human child curled within her bed and then finally toward Caesar. Hearing Caesar's unsteady heavy breathing, the chimpanzee then took a step back and turned away from the little human girl. It was here that Caesar was met face to face with Koba again and the two simply stood there for a moment before the former of the two, walked past the other.

"Look around," Caesar said gravely as he stopped momentarily to glance back at the little girl before turning away once more. "Take what you can."

Seeing the others file out of the room after Caesar, Koba stood there quietly as well and turned to look at Maurice, who still had his attention on the human girl. Turning his attention upon the little human, Koba was reminded about the ugliness of the human race and he wanted nothing more than to end them all. However… this was but a human child, one that, like many other small ones, were innocent to the world around them. Grunting, Koba rounded himself and followed after the others.

…

Watching Rocket, Luca and Koba follow Caesar back into the cluttered heart of the shack, to sort through the provisions piled there, Maurice stood alone with the human girl. Turning back to the small little human, Maurice approached and observed her curiously. He then felt something touching his knuckles and he gently looked down to see what was lying there. Letting out gentle grunts, Maurice bent down and retrieved the object on the floor, which turned out to be a crude rag doll, fashioned to resemble a human.

Maurice observed the item within his hands, looking back and forth from it to the human girl before he offered a sincere smile and held the doll out towards her. The child eyed the crude doll for a long moment, before she glanced back up at Maurice whom nodded at her. The human girl then accepted the object and held it close to her while she watched Maurice with her big eyes.

Then to Maurice's surprise, the girl tried to say something but only a low, inarticulate whimper escaped her. Blinking, Maurice observed the human child curiously, knowing well that such young ones were very capable of speech. Yet, the little one was having trouble saying anything at all. Seeing the girl trying to struggle and say something, Maurice knew that he had seen enough and he gently raised a finger as he let out a deep chittering noise. The sound had frightened the girl, but Maurice continued and reached on over to gently stroke the head of the doll within the girl's hands, the notion having a calming effect.

…

Koba assisted the others as they rooted through the shack's contents. Turning to look at Caesar, Koba saw that the chimpanzee had stopped in his search to simply watch Rocket and Luca continue, having no success on his end. After a moment Koba returned to scrounging through the various things, reaching on over and pulled what look like a pair of binoculars from the side while Rocket and Luca were both successful in finding working flashlights. With these items, they could prove to be useful later on. Hearing approaching footsteps from behind them, they all turned when Maurice stopped in front of them and grunted, quickly glancing backward once before he signed to them.

" _Something wrong with her,_ " Maurice signed. " _I don't think she can speak._ "

At this, Koba was confused as to why Maurice was so worried about the human child. Caesar on the other hand regarded Maurice sternly before looking away.

"Come," Caesar said and left.

Rocket and Luca frowned at Caesar's response but the two apes quietly followed nonetheless, their findings within the sacks in their hands. Koba however had paused and turned toward Maurice, noticing the orangutan looking away from him and back the way toward the run down bedroom.

"Let's go, Maurice," Koba spoke up, causing the bigger ape to turn around and look at him.

The scarred bonobo turned around and followed the others while Maurice hesitated and glanced back behind him once more, noticing that the girl had chosen to remain within the confines of the bedroom. Having no choice, he soon followed the others out into the open. By the time they had left the shack, everyone was all ready to mount their horses and continue on their journey. Slowly ambling on after the others, Maurice glanced up and saw that Caesar had gotten on his own steed. However, Maurice noticed that Caesar had his gaze upon something behind him and he too followed Caesar's eyes to see what he was looking at.

Maurice noticed that Caesar had saw the girl had followed them all out into the open. Curiously she wandered on over to the body of the dead human, which was still lying on the ground beside his gun. The child had a look of confusion on her face for a moment before she bent down and reached out to touch the man. When she had gotten no reaction from the man the girl finally realized what had happened to her him and her eyes began to well up. Her small frame shook as she reached up to cover her mouth as tears rolled down her face. Whoever the human man was to the girl, either her father or a guardian of some sort, he was now gone, life taken by Caesar, leaving the girl truly alone in the world now.

Turning back around to face Caesar, Maurice then grunted to get his attention.

" _She'll die out here alone,_ " he had signed.

A flicker of sympathy passed through Rocket and Luca as they watched their two friends and the human girl. This child was not their enemy, yet they agreed with Maurice. If she stayed out here, all alone, she will surely perish without her guardian. As this world was as harsh as it was beautiful to all.

Koba on the other hand felt no sympathy for the human child as he observed from the side. Or so he would think. The longer he watched the little girl cry for the lost of her father or guardian, the more he started to feel something tug within him… something that reminded him of his mother so very long ago while he was in the same situation, and he didn't like that. Angrily he turned away from the sight.

"We cannot take her Maurice," Caesar said firmly.

Exhaling deeply, Maurice glanced back around to peer at the crying child and then rounded himself right back toward Caesar.

" _I understand,_ " he signed calmly. " _But I cannot leave her._ "

Frustrated, Caesar glared at the stubborn orangutan before his cold eyes wandered on over to the girl.

"Then do what you will," Caesar growled as he kicked his horse, causing the steed to trot a few paces away.

Watching Caesar leave, Koba glared back down at the ground and calmed his senses. Shutting his eyes tightly, he took a deep breath before he turned around and saw Maurice still observing the weeping girl from where he stood. He then approached the orangutan.

"Why do this Maurice?" Koba asked, not truly understanding why the orangutan was so adamant on wanting to take the human girl with them. "Why worry for her?"

Maurice paused for a moment and seemed to be in deep thought before he regarded Koba with a sad smile.

" _I do not know,_ " he answered honestly.

With that said, Maurice finally lumbered toward the human child, leaving Koba, Rocket and Luca there to wait for him.

" _You two make sure that Caesar does not leave us,_ " Luca signed to both Rocket and Koba.

The two other apes regarded the silverback and nodded in agreement before they hefted themselves onto their own horses and followed Caesar. As Luca patiently waited for Maurice and the little girl, he took a step back as the older orangutan gently brought the child on over. Still silently weeping and holding onto the stuff toy within her hands, Luca couldn't help but feel for the little girl.

" _Get on your horse, I will help her up,_ " Luca signed to the older orangutan.

Maurice nodded in thanks toward Luca and slowly ambled up onto his own steed. Once situated, he had turned back to look down at the human child and noticed that she looked hesitant in approaching. Curiously, Maurice then turned to look at Luca, whom seemed to have noticed this as well.

Not knowing what to do, Luca glanced from Maurice to the child in front of him. They had to hurry, lest they were left behind by Caesar and the others, who could keep him around for so long. Thinking quickly, Luca knelt down to make himself look smaller so that the human child would approach. Of course, this didn't help too much as Luca's frame was much too big and it had only amused Maurice slightly, to Luca's annoyance. This however, seemed to work a little bit as the child instead took a step forward and curiously met his eyes. Blinking, Luca then reached a hand out towards the human girl and waited patiently for her. The human girl seemed to hesitate for just a couple of heartbeats before she wiped away at her tear streaked eyes and slowly reach out towards his hand.

The moment her hand was in his palm, Luca met the child's gaze and gently closed his fingers around hers. Hesitantly the child step toward him and he instead let out soft pants to hopefully ease her. Once she was in front of him, Luca picked up the child and placed her up onto Maurice's horse. The moments she was situated behind the orangutan, she quickly clung onto the back of his fur, like an ape child would. Luca stared curiously as the human child looked back up at him and a slightly sweet smile appeared on her lips, even if her eyes were still red and puffy from just crying. Seeing this, Luca couldn't help but offer a small smile of his own.

After a second or two, Luca's gaze wandered on over toward Maurice and he found the older orangutan smiling at him. Quickly regaining his composure and putting on a more imposing posture, Luca grunted.

" _Something wrong?_ " Luca asked.

" _No,_ " Maurice gestured back before nodding at the silverback. " _Thank you._ "

" _Think nothing of it,_ " Luca simply signed back as he went on over to his own white horse and got on.

Maurice couldn't help but smile amusingly at his dear friend before he made sure that the girl was secure enough to move his horse onward with Luca following closely behind.

…

...

...

Light filtered through the trees of the Redwood forest, the sun's rays beaming in through between the trees and casting the undergrowth in a golden sheen of light in the mid early morning. There was a running river by the side and by it's shore, squatted Nick, who was busy refilling his canteen with one of their spares. As he was doing so, there was the sounds of someone approaching from behind and he glanced behind to see Max walking up to him.

"Heard from the others that McCullough and his men are on the move again," Max spoke up as he patted the radio within the sack on his back. "Said that they might be heading up towards north, to one of the old bases up there. Seems like we scouted out here for nothing," he finished.

"I wouldn't say nothing. We did hear the fight go on yesterday and saw who McCullough's forces were going against with," Nick explained calmly.

"Yeah…" Max answered slowly. "Apes of all things."

After filling his canteen, Nick stood back up and put the object away before he patted down the front of his pants.

"Well… as long as we don't bother the apes, we should be fine," Nick responded, gazing out into the distance.

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Max asked from behind. "We're only going after McCullough cause he went AWOL and has already killed people since then. If not him, I'm betting that we would be fighting these apes too."

"Yeah," Nick frowned as he answered and glanced about. "I bet we would…"

"Come on Nick, lets get back to our truck-" Max started but stopped when he had sighted something while he walked down the river's path.

Confused, Nicholas quickly followed behind his companion.

"Hey what's wrong?…" Nick had started to ask but stopped himself too as he now saw the reason why Max had stopped in his tracks.

There on the banks of the river was a body. Not just any body as well, but the body of an ape. Slowly the two crept up toward the figure, a chimpanzee no less, and looked it over. The creature had a terrible head wound of some kind that streaked across the left side of its cranium. Along with that the ape had what looked like old scars as well that ran across its torso area. Curiously Nick bent down to examine the creature a little closer, a look of concern overcoming his features.

"Hey, should you be getting so close to that?" Max asked.

Ignoring Maxwell's words, Nick noticed something around the ape's neck and he reached out towards it. Pulling the item back from the body, Nick observed what was in his hand. There situated within the middle of his palm, sat a beautiful stone that varied in shades of light to dark blue hues. Curiously though the stone looked like it had been struck by something hard, leaving a spiderweb fracture upon it with bits of stones missing.

"What is that?" Max now asked instead as he walked up toward Nick to see what the other man had found.

"It's a necklace… this ape was wearing a necklace," Nicholas responded, as if he was saddened by such a thing.

Curious as to why his companion was acting such a way, Max turned to look down at Nicholas.

"What has gotten into you?"

The two were suddenly startled as a gasping sound that came from the ape's body, causing them to both jump back. Maxwell was quick to aim his gun at the body of the ape while Nicholas simply stared with wide eyes. The ape laying on the bank of the river gave a shuddering breath before the creature's eyelids opened, revealing irises the colors of the cerulean sea.

A blue eyed chimpanzee.

"Holy shit. I thought it was dead?" Maxwell breathed as he kept his weapon on the ape as the simian huffed on the spot, seeming much too weak to be able to move.

Pocketing the stone into his pants, Nicholas quickly held out his hand in front of his companion, confusing Max. He turned turned to look at Nicholas whom seemed to be observing that ape before them for a long while before the man's eyes widened slightly.

"You can't be…" Nicholas started but quickly shook his head and turned toward Max. "Help me!"

"What?" Max asked.

"Help me take him back to the truck. We need to take him into the city," Nick said quickly.

At this, Max took a step back away from his companion, confusion written all over his face.

"Nick, what are you talking about? Take him to the truck and city? There's nothing in the city. It's deserted-"

"Please!" Nick cut the other soldier off. "I'm begging you. Please. We need to save him."

Swallowing hard, Maxwell look from Nick to the chimpanzee on the bank of the river and lowered his gun slowly. Closing his eyes for a long while, Max heaved out a breath and slung his weapon around his back as he turned back to look at Nick's pleading face.

"You owe me an explanation," Max said to the medic.

"I promise, I'll explain everything," Nicholas said to his companion before rounding himself to look at the blue eyed chimp. "It's going to be alright."

* * *

 **Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the story still. Also... I wonder who Nicholas and Maxwell found?**


	55. Chapter 55

Dusk fell as the party, now larger by one, continued along the shore. Turning to look at Maurice, Caesar noticed the little girl clinging onto the older ape's back, her face pressed into his shaggy coat as she eyed him. He couldn't help but scowl at this and shoot his friend a hard look.

Maurice on the other hand noticed this glare from Caesar but placidly nodded back at him. He was assuring Caesar that the girl will be no trouble to them.

Unconvinced of this, Caesar pushed his horse forward a little faster.

Riding up next to Maurice, Koba watched Caesar's back for a moment before he too rounded his head to look at the orangutan and girl duo. It still confused him why Maurice was willing to do everything he can to bring this human child along. But Maurice's reasons were his own. As is Caesars, Luca's, Rocket's and even his.

Instead of glaring at the two like Caesar had previously done, Koba merely frowned at the sight as he eyed the child who blinked up at him. If he were the old him back then, he was sure that he would have left the child back there among the shack to fend for herself. To let her die alone like the rest of her species. But now… now he was different. In his near death experience, being revived by Ellie and that journey that Caesar had sent him on; something within him had changed over the course of two summers. Instead of anger and hatred, he now felt… surprisingly enough, pity for the human girl, while he met her gaze.

Hearing a low chitter from Maurice, Koba's sights wandered back up to the orangutan beside him.

" _Is something wrong?_ " Maurice asked gently.

Koba blinked a couple of times before his face set back into its frowning state.

" _You do know that it is dangerous where we are going,_ " Koba gestured.

" _Yes, I do,_ " Maurice answered slowly with a couple of head nods. " _But everywhere is dangerous. Even with us I know, that it is dangerous._ "

" _Then we should just have just left the human child and come back for her later,_ " Koba shot back frustratingly.

At this, Maurice raised his brows at the scarred bonobo who blinked back curiously.

" _If I did not know any better, I would assume that you care for the child?_ " Maurice asked calmly.

At this, the hairs on Koba's body stood on end and his face contorted to that of flustered anger.

" _I do not care for the human child! I only say this because she will get in the way!_ " Koba signed back furiously before ushering his horse onward, leaving the others behind as well.

" _What is the matter with him?_ " Rocket asked as he rode up next to Maurice, noticing Koba fuming on top of his horse with his shoulders hunched and back tense.

" _Nothing in particular,_ " Maurice simply answered back.

Soon enough the group came upon rows of crudely constructed crosses that were posted along the edge of the tidal flats. Made mostly from the driftwood around that were bound together with twine, the crosses were staked into the ground at the heads of fresh mounds of dirt. Observing the crosses around them, Maurice was the first to sign.

" _Must be where they bury their dead,_ " the older ape signed.

Looking away from Maurice, Koba then regarded the crosses again and wondered why humans were so accustomed to burying their dead. Apes usually placed their deceased within their most favorite trees, or sent their bodies down the river, to where their souls and minds could be free. But the more Koba thought about it the more he realized that their customs with mourning their dead, weren't so much different from each other. Usually their bodies go back towards nature, once they've passed on. Blinking, Koba then noticed that a few of the driftwood were colored red, causing him to narrow his good eye at them.

"Looks like some were killed here," Caesar pointed out, causing the others to look at the red driftwood and the various bullet shells that littered the ground beneath it.

Grunting to catch all of their attention, Luca then pointed out to a spot not too far away, lying just beyond the graves.

" _They burned their things too,_ " Luca signed.

" _Why would they kill their own kind?_ " Maurice then signed, still staring at the burnt heap in bewilderment.

"Because these humans do not care for their own," Koba spat out this time, causing all heads to now turn towards him.

The scarred bonobo then lifted his head to meet all of their stares, his features stern.

"Humans who will not hesitate to kill," Koba warned them.

Caesar regarded Koba for a few more heartbeats before he silently turned his horse back onto the trail and led the way again. Slowly, the others followed him, leaving the graveyard behind them.

…

"Cornelius. Cornelius," Tinker said softly, trying to get the small prince's attention and have him drink from her.

The small ape child however, merely curled up on himself within her arm and continued to weep silently. Tinker's heart ached for the young prince, she had tried nearly all day to make Cornelius as comfortable as much as she could, but the loss of his family had deeply affected him. Along with that, he had watched his father leave as well, with Tinker taking it upon herself to watch over the small one. Luckily, Cornelius already knew her very well and was used to her holding him… but of course, she could never replace being his mother. With him not being old enough to be weaned yet, he needed milk to which Tinker herself was more than happy to provide but the little prince refused to drink.

It was during this that Tinker couldn't help but feel displeased toward Caesar and her own mate for leaving them. She knew, deep down, that Caesar was clearly hurting, she could see it in the way he moved, the way he frowned and the pain set deep within his eyes. The lost of his family was very devastating. However, Caesar needed to understand that Cornelius needed him now, more than ever. Not just the young prince but all of them as well to guide them through this tough time…

Tinker huffed quietly to herself as Cornelius continues to not move from his position within her arms, burying his head into her bosom. Maybe she herself was being selfish for thinking like this, but Caesar was not the only one hurting as she was dealing with her own self as well. She may still have her family intact, but she had felt as if she had lost a sister and another son too and it hurt her just as dearly. Oh how she wished that Cornelia and Blue Eyes were still here, then maybe things wouldn't have turned out like this. But she still had to find a why to feed Cornelius and she had promised to care for him, promising to herself that she would not lose another ape that was close to her if she couldn't' help it.

While still within her thoughts, movement from her other side, caused Tinker herself to peer down and see her little Cinder stirring from her nap. The young chimpanzee opened up her mouth in a long yawn before she slowly blinked up at her mother and smiled. Tinker in turn reciprocated with her own serene smile as she bent her head down to kiss her sweet Cinder atop of her crown.

After she had stretched out her small limbs, Cinder began to suckle from her mother's teat with much vigor as she had woken up hungry. While feeding, her eyes had wandered over her mother's side and she could see that the other curious ape child was still there since this morning. She knew this other ape child and had seen him many times before, but this was the first that he was actually this close with her own mother and her. Aside from that Cinder had reached on out with her free hand and took a hold of the other ape child's. This notion had prompted the other child to try and pull away, but her grip held firm as she continued to feed.

Cornelius tried again to remove his hand from the other ape child when she had grabbed his hand but after a brief struggle he had given up and laid his head back upon the older female. Curiously though, he watched as Cinder drank away, seeming content with her own mother while she eyed him with half lidded eyes. Seeing her feed, caused Cornelius's own stomach to grumble hungrily. Burying his head into the older female again, Cornelius's form shuddered but the small hand that gripped his own and the larger one patting his back gently, comforted him. After a few moments he glanced back at Cinder before he turned his head and began to suckle at the teat in front of him.

When Cornelius finally started to feed again, relief washed over Tinker, her eyes becoming wet. Feeling the young prince suckle from her, made her happy, as she now knows that he is willing to feed again. Many apes she knew, when they had lost their loved ones, child or mothers, usually followed after in death, never to return. This was something she dreaded and feared for many apes, especially Caesar when she saw him and now with little Cornelius. She feared that due to the loss of their loved ones, that these two were following after them and her heart couldn't bear it if she were to lose them as well. But then, thanks to her Cinder, the child had nudged the little prince just enough to cause him to not go down that dark path and on the trail back toward life.

Something that is desperately needed right now, for all of them.

With a hopeful sigh, Tinker bent down and hugged the two children closer toward her, kissing them both on top of their temples.

 _I promise I will keep you two safe as best as I can_ , Tinker vowed to herself.

...

While they had travelled further in complete silence, Luca had taken the lead and scouted ahead. Caesar however was still quietly mulling over his situation and couldn't help but feel something or rather someone watching him. Slowly lifting his head toward his left, he could see Koba turning his head away from him from atop of his own horse. Caesar couldn't help but indignantly huff from his nostrils and rounded away from the scarred bonobo as well. The hairs on his body rising up in anger once more at the mere thought of the ape that had caused all of this.

Caesar then bucked his horse forward.

Observing silently from behind, both Maurice and Rocket frowned when they saw Caesar ushering his horse onward, away from Koba. The two old friends couldn't help but stare at each other and sag their shoulders. There was so many things wrong that had recently happened and both Maurice and Rocket felt as if there was nothing that the both of them could do to fix this. They understood very well where Caesar's anger was stemming from, but this anger was not just hurting him, but the ones around him as well. What could they do to remedy this?

Then there was a call from Luca as the silverback pointed out toward something beyond. Curiously the others joined him and Luca began to sign to all of them.

" _I think I see something. Just beyond this path between the two rocks there._ "

Caesar turned to where Luca had pointed and silently led the way this time, with the others following. As they made their way through the pathway Caesar raised his hand and squinted his eyes as he could see the flickers of torch lights, bonfires and the tents that littered the place before them.

They had found them.

As night fell, the apes had situated themselves besides some of the mounds and brushes, observing the human soldiers from afar. With the binoculars within his hands, Caesar surveyed the human soldier's camp from a safe distance, in the brushes. Luca, Rocket and Koba flanked him as he checked out the camp before them. All of a sudden, there was a sharp intake of breath from Caesar, startling the others around him.

"Y-you. See. Colonel?" Luca grunted out in surprise.

"No," Caesar started as he lowered the binoculars within his hands, unable to look upon the scene for a moment longer.

Koba was going to say something but thought better of it and instead kept himself quiet for now.

"Then. Who?" Rocket asked next.

Caesar was silent for a moment before he regarded to both of the apes beside him.

"Rex," he snarled.

At the name, Koba's eyes widened when he recognized it.

…

Keeping his eyes upon the ground in front of him, Winter walked along with the rest of the apes as they all were headed toward the direction of their new home. It may had been only the night prior but it had felt like an eternity since Glade was lost to him, and now the world felt numb around him.

When the other had found him, back in the stone caverns of their hidden fortress, Winter remembered the others cooing to him and trying to pry Glade's body away from him. That of course, only prompted him to hold onto Glade's body tighter, close to him, fearing that the moment he was removed from his arms, all would be lost.

But all was lost.

Eventually, it was Oak who had gently pried Glade's body out of Winter's arms, carrying the deceased bonobo away. Winter had then drew his arms close to his body as he stared with wide eyes at the pool of red underneath him. He could remember bits and pieces of what had happened thereafter. He remembered being led away and with the assistance of a few of the other apes, they all helped clean him and dress his wound. He then remembered coming for him and hugging him tightly, grunting gentle cooing sounds to calm him. He then remembered Luca standing with him as he watched Glade's body drift down on the raft, along with Blue Eyes and Cornelia. Finally he remembered Luca signing to him, not remembering much but saw the older silverback offering him a sad smile before turning around and taking his leave.

Now here he was, simply following the others, letting his limbs carry him to wherever they may go.

After a little while Winter heard the hoof beats of a horse coming next to him, causing him to dully glance up to see whoever was riding the creature. There atop of the horse sat a very pregnant gorilla who was also following the exodus. The female had a sad frown upon her lips and was looking down at the others around her, until her eyes met his. The two simply looked at one another and Winter recognized this female gorilla. Her name was Coral, the beloved younger sister of Ajax, so very long ago. Coral had offered him a sad smile in greeting and Winter lowered his head back in front of him. In any other day, he would have smiled back or even greeted Coral in kind.

As of right now though, he had naught the will nor the feelings to do so and instead kept to himself… for now.

…

The silverback gorilla set the tub of dishes down upon the counter as he contemplated about what he had done. Looking up from the dishware, Rex stared at his reflection within the grimy mirror, barely recognizing himself. Less than two sunrises ago, he was part of the reformed apes within their colony. One of the many who had offered their services to assist Caesar and the others for their betrayal. Luca and Maurice had vouched for him and the others, asking Caesar to draw back his decree of banishment of the traitor apes, who had nowhere else to go. In due time, Rex and the others had gained the trust of the other apes once more. Of course they could never regain the status as before, but they were nonetheless, accepted again. Now here he was, a traitor once more and a slave to the humans soldiers…

 _What has become of me?_ Rex thought to himself. _What have I become?_

He could never return to the fortress, Rex knew that. Even if he hadn't already told the Colonel where it was, Caesar and the other apes would never forgive him for that betrayal. Especially for a second betrayal nonetheless. If he were to go back, who knew what the apes would do to him? No, he could only stay with the humans now, and hope that his old friend, Red, could help him stay alive. Maybe he could risk deserting the camp instead, becoming an outcast and fugitive for both sides.

Oh how he wished Pope were still alive, his old friend. The scarred chimpanzee would know what to do in this situation.

Unable to look at himself any longer, Rex dipped his head down to look at his hands. He then glanced back up at the mirror and was startled when he saw another face appeared beside his own.

Spinning around, Rex was surprised to find Caesar standing behind him, staring at him with cold, merciless golden-green eyes. His icy silence was more terrifying than any accusing words or screeches would have been from other humans or apes.

"Where's the Colonel?" Caesar asked.

Hearing something toward his right, Rex glanced over in that direction and saw Luca blocking the way. Rounding his head the opposite end of the tent, Rex was surprised to see both Rocket and Koba there, waiting for him. Rex couldn't help himself as he retreated backwards against the wash basin.

He was surrounded.

" _He's gone,_ " Rex signed hesitantly.

"Gone?" Caesar asked skeptically, tilting his head a little.

Rex's eyes darted to the others to either side, his hope sinking as he tried to convince Caesar that he was telling the truth.

" _He left this morning,_ " Rex signed, " _...took many soldiers with him. I heard that there were more soldiers coming down from the North. The Colonel is going to meet them..._ " Rex continued as he noticed Caesar now slowly approaching him. " _...at the border..._ "

"What border?" Caesar cut in, his voice like steel, slicing through the air. "Why?"

" _I… I don't know,_ " Rex now signed with shaky arms. " _B-but the rest of us are going tomorrow. The Donkeys think the soldiers from the North… are coming to help finish off the apes for good._ "

Caesar now stood in front of the slightly hunching gorilla, his face stern and eyes burning with hatred.

" _That day, after the battle on the hill. Re-... the Donkey we caught promised me that the Colonel would spare my life. If I told them where you were hiding,_ " Rex continued to explain.

Rex now relive that moment back at the trenches, when he had snuck away and saved Red from Winter. The rusted furred gorilla had then convinced him to switched sides while there was still a chance to do so. He was too shaken by the sight of dozens of dead and maimed apes, and their defensive wall blown to pieces by the human soldier's explosives. That along with the constant fighting that had been going on between the two species. Even though he was accepted back into the apes' open arms, Rex had made his choice, which he now regretted with all of his heart and being.

" _I beg you again, Caesar! Please forgive me!_ " Rex signed desperately as he lowered himself to a submissive position and offered a supplicating palm.

Caesar was unmoved by Rex's pleas. His voice, as it escaped him, was taut with barely contained rage and fury.

"My son… my wife… are dead."

Guilt, fear and shame filled Rex's being as Caesar spoke to him. He had known that apes would die, of course, when he had told Red and the Colonel where to find the fortress behind the falls. But putting names and faces to the dead brought more dread to Rex himself, knowing what he had caused. He now knew that Caesar would never forgive him for what he had done.

Unbeknownst to the others, besides Rocket, Koba had visibly shuddered at Caesar's words as well. The bonobo had lowered his gaze momentarily before collecting himself and glared back up at the ape traitor in front of him.

Letting out small fearful hoots, Rex and the others turned their heads when they heard talking nearby outside the tend that they were in. Fearing for his life and desperate to seek something to rescue him, Rex had opened his mouth to shriek for help. Caesar was quick to react and struck the gorilla across the face with with the end of his weapon, stunning the traitorous gorilla. The others were quick to move in, with Luca covering Rex's mouth, pushing him back down. Rocket and Koba then latched themselves to hold down Rex's flailing limbs and Caesar wrapping the gorilla's throat with an iron grip. As he tried to thrash around in sheer fear and panic, Rex found himself outnumbered four to one. Still, he struggled within their grip to free himself, to call out to the humans before it was too late, as his life depended on it.

…

Holding Rex down, determined to keep the traitor gorilla from crying out for help, Koba had kept his eyes upon the silhouettes of the human soldiers right outside the tent. His eyes widening, he then saw the outlines of the human soldiers turning toward them, as if they had heard the noises from within.

Looking around quickly, Koba then spotted a rather large kitchen knife up on the wash basin and quickly got up and grabbed it. He didn't know why he had suddenly got up to grab the blade but his eyes wildly went from the shadows, toward Rex, the others and back. What was he supposed to do? But as he stood there he noticed more shadows approaching, seeming to be attracted by the commotion within. Glancing behind him, Koba could see Rex still struggling within the other three's grasps, fighting desperately to break free and sound an alarm. If they were to be found out, then they would surely all die here tonight and he had to find a way to protect them all.

Then a thought suddenly crossed his mind that caused the hairs upon his body to stand on end. If the only way to save them was for them to somehow stop Rex… then that would mean… Koba's heart pounded within his chest as he looked down at the kitchen knife and then at Rex who continued to struggle.

Ape not kill ape. That was their sacred law and one that was followed. However, ape had killed ape and now… Koba needed to make a decision. It was either Rex or them and with a heavy heart, he chose them.

Rounding back to the others Koba brandished the knife, preparing himself to do whatever necessary to save their lives. But then as he approached, Koba then noticed that Rex's flailing had fallen silent. Maybe he had gotten tired from the struggling? Stopping in his advances, Koba had let out a relieved breath before looking back behind him and noticed that the silhouettes of the soldiers turned away from the now silent tent and continued on by. He and the others waited, frozen in place, as the shadows gradually receded from view.

All letting out a simultaneous exhale of breaths, the apes all turned towards Caesar before their gazes looked down to grimly stare at the unmoving form of Rex. Cautiously, both Rocket and Luca released their hold upon the traitor ape, but Rex remained where he lay, no longer fighting for his life. As Caesar took his hand away from the gorilla's mouth and neck, Rex's head had lolled to the side, breath no longer emerging from his mouth or nostrils and his eyes stared blankly at the water basin besides them, which were now glazed over with a dull sheen to them.

The realization of what they had all just done to Rex stunned Koba, actually causing him to drop the knife within his hands onto the ground and taking a step back. Caesar looked surprised as well as he looked up from Rex's face to both Rocket and Luca, his own shoulders rising and falling with his heavy breath. The other two lowered their eyes, unable to meet his, both still panting as well from the adrenaline rush. The ape leader removed his arms further from Rex's form and a look of horror set upon his own features. Caesar himself had never actually killed another ape with his bare hands.

Until now.

Breathing with small gasps, Caesar kept his eyes upon Rex's face before he slowly looked upwards and met Koba's own wide fearful eyes.

…

The drive back to San Francisco was a long one. It had been a struggle for both of the men to carry the wounded chimpanzee back into their truck, as they had to trek through wet mushy grounds of the forest, causing them to lose their footing a couple of time. Eventually though, they had both made it and Max took it upon himself to drive and be directed by Nick.

Max kept checking his rear-view mirror to see Nick diligently tending to the wounded ape, pulling various medical equipment from his backpack to do what he can. Max himself couldn't believe he was going along with this ridiculous plan to help this half-dead ape and it was driving him up the wall.

The moment they had come upon the Golden Gate Bridge, Maxwell came upon the grisly scene of what looked like a battle had taken place. There, littered upon the streets and vehicles were the skeletal remains of both humans and apes, with clothes all tattered and lightly shifted with the breeze of the sea far below.

"Seemed like… there was a fight of some kind," Max breathed out as he drove on, making sure to direct the vehicle so that it did not disturb the bodies on the bridge.

"Yeah… looked like there was," Nick agreed solemnly, as he too had glanced up form his charge to look out of the windows.

Eventually, both Maxwell, Nicholas and their charge came upon what looked like a broken down tower, set within the middle of the city. With the truck coming to a slow stop, Maxwell shut off the engines and again, he assisted Nicholas with carrying the heavy ape into the base of the tower. It was there Max then silently observed as Nick ran about the base and seemingly was able to pull various things from all sorts of directions, bringing them back to where they were.

"You seemed to know where everything is around here… makes one wonder if you've been here before," Max started, causing Nick to stop abruptly for a long while before he slowly continued with his work.

"Max… I-"

"Don't Max me, Nick! This is crazy!" Maxwell blurted out, silencing the medic. "You're running about this place that I have no clue about and are finding things that are able to help you? Along with that, we're wasting time. Valuable time to which we should be rendezvousing with the others to fight against McCullough! Remember, we were supposed to do a job and help the Northern army get rid of this problem. Yet here were are, spending it to… to save… save this ape?"

"Max, look. I know this seems crazy. Ridiculous even… but you have to trust me."

"Trust!?" Max spoke up. "You're asking me to trust you? After what? Spending nearly two years together, I thought we had nothing but trust with each other," Max continued with a angry frown. "I feel like I don't even know you. What are you hiding from me and the others? Are you really from Sacramento?"

There was a long silence between the two men with nothing but the heavy labored breaths from the ape. Nick rounded his head to regard his charge before turning back around to face the other soldier who stood stock still in front of him.

"No… I'm not… from Sacramento… I… I'll tell you more… I promise. But we can't talk about this now. We need to help him," Nick spoke up as he turned to look down at the ape. "He's dying and he needs our help. Please help me, Max. Please."

Maxwell's dark eyes darted from Nick to the ape lying behind him before he took in a deep breath and heaved out a sigh.

"Fine," Max spoke up, throwing one hand into the air as he walked on over. "Once we help this ape though, and we get him situated, you're telling me everything. You got that? You tell me why you know so much about this place, why you need to help this chimp right here and what is really going on."

"I promise. I swear," Nicholas responded with a weary breath.

Max narrowed his eyes on the medic for a few moments longer before he puffed out a breath.

"I can't believe it. I can't believe I'm doing this," Maxwell said aloud once more.

"Thanks Max. I owe you for this. I really do," Nick thanked the other man.

"Just," Max huffed out. "Just tell me what you need help on," he said in a defeated tone. "Also yes, you owe me big time," he finished, causing a small smile to form on Nick's lips as they got to work.

...

Safely distant from the human soldier's tents, the apes sat glumly around a small campfire of their own. Rex's death had casted a dark shroud over the gathering as Caesar and the others stared bleakly into the fire, each coping with the gorilla's ugly fate in their own way.

Eventually Maurice had looked up from the flames and around at the others. He had learned the demise of Rex from both Rocket and Luca. He himself had not taken part of the violence that had occurred, as he had chosen to stay behind to watch over the horses and the human girl. But nonetheless he was still affected by Rex's death too.

" _Now what do we do?_ " he had asked.

The first to break from the stupor was Rocket and the nearly hairless chimpanzee frowned as he answered.

" _Wait till the soldiers go,_ " he signed. " _Follow them to the Colonel._ "

As the others signed to each other, Caesar said nothing, lost in his own thoughts at what had occurred tonight. He sipped absently from a canteen fashioned from a hollowed-out gourd before noticing that the girl child had sat down beside him at some point. She peered up at him curiously with what looked like concern featuring within her blue colored eyes. She alone, Cesar reflected, seemed to be untroubled by the night's disturbing events. Yet, she seemed to sense that things were not well among them.

He considered the girl, momentarily before he slowly turned away from her while still drinking from his canteen. He then saw Koba sitting at the other side of the fire by himself, staring grimly at the flames as well, seeming lost in his own thoughts too. Talking one final gulp, Caesar lowered the hollowed-out gourd and regarded the scarred bonobo, remembering how Koba had looked at him with that look of dread. Of all of the apes to consider, Caesar would have never thought to see Koba looking him at that kind of way. It baffled and confused him, enough to drive away his anger and hatred, if momentarily.

As Caesar continued to eye Koba however, he then noticed something strange. Blood slowly started to trickle down the bonobo's forehead, toward the rest of his face. Unable to move his body or even make a sound, Caesar couldn't help but stare in silence as he noticed the blood upon the bonobo, as if the other ape had been struck or damaged. Then he gaped as he noticed another figure of an ape, sitting right next to Koba. Rising sparks and smoke danced between Caesar, Koba and this new arrival, whose head was lowered ominously. Still alarmed and bewildered, Caesar watched as the other ape slowly lifted his head to reveal a familiar looking face, whose left side of his head was marred with old fishnet scars and dark green eyes.

"Pope?" Caesar breathed.

Pope grinned at Caesar across from the dancing fire between them, the flames casting a hellish red hue upon the deceased chimpanzee's smiling features who was also covered in blood and open wounds. Pope seemed to regard Caesar for a mere moment before his gaze wandered on over toward the scarred bonobo beside him and he gently wrapped an arm around Koba's shoulders. The simple notion caused the scarred bonobo to draw his limbs closer toward his body and head to lower. Pope's eyes then darted back to meet Caesar's, theirs suddenly turning into a glassy pale-green.

The look of death.

A hoarse voice then spoke from beyond the grave, echoing all around.

"Ape… not kill ape."

* * *

 **The traitor has been finally named! Did you all figure it out that it was Rex? There were multiple clues throughout the whole of the story to suggest that it was him. XD**

 **But yes, more things are happening now. Pope is now haunting Caesar, Nick and Maxwell are probably on tense terms, Cornelius is refusing to eat, Winter is lost and so much more! But I do hope you all are enjoying it! Until the next chapter folks! Happy Readings!**

 **Returning apes in this chapter:**

 **Pope: The ape mastermind who started it all, in this version at least. But yes, Pope has made a slight return and is one of the demons affecting his mind right now.**

 **Coral: Ajax's younger sister. She was briefly mentioned way back in chapter 38.**


	56. Chapter 56

**Hello readers! I'm so sorry for the long chapter delay. The holidays had been a bit hectic and I've hardly any time to write. But fear not, as a promise to myself and you all, I am still working on this story and will finish it, even if I am unable to post regularly at times. Anyways, here is the next chapter. Do enjoy this newest chapter and as before, if there are any questions and or if you want to put any comments down, feel free to do so. But enough of that, Happy Readings!**

* * *

Koba had found himself standing at the top of familiar looking stairs. Curiously he looked about and noticed that everything was a blur to him, with sounds of screeching, shouting and gunfire all around. He remembered this place well… it was… but it couldn't.

Koba suddenly perked up when he noticed a human at the base of the stairs, wildly swinging a pole at the younger apes below. Koba huffed in slight terror as he knew exactly where this was now. Suddenly another ape with scars riddling all around his body stepped out from Koba himself and made his way down the base of the stairs. The bonobo's own eyes grew wide when he saw the scarred ape below him took a hold of the human's weapon and snarled down at man into submission. The ape then took the pole and tossed it to one of the young apes.

"Kill him," Koba heard his own voice emanating from the other ape.

"No," Koba breathed, as his shoulders started to rise and fall quickly with each breath he took.

Koba then saw his past self signing towards the young chimp male - Ash, who reluctantly met the other scarred ape before looking down at the pole in his hands. Koba could then see the turmoil set within the usually cheery young male's face before he glanced back at the other Koba's way.

" _Caesar would not have wanted this,_ " Ash signed reluctantly as he lowered his shoulders a little. " _He would have wanted us to have peace with these humans. They… they pose no threat to us._ "

Koba knew what came next, seeing his past self throwing a hand over Ash's shoulder, seemingly to agree with the younger ape.

But that was simply a lie.

Koba remembered well how much anger he held for the younger ape for disobeying his orders. And like before, the past Koba grabbed Ash by the scruff of his neck and dragged the young chimp up the stairway while he bucked, kicked and screamed in protest. This time though, Koba was ready to do anything to stop his past self from doing any harm. He was a changed ape after all and he was not going to allow this to happen again, if he could help it.

Baring his fangs, Koba reached out to stop his other self from dragging the screeching Ash any further. Surprisingly though, Koba instead only went right through the two apes. Huffing in shock, Koba turned around quickly and stood with the other young apes as they watched the other Koba dragged Ash toward the edge of the balcony and lifted the young chimp over his head.

This is it. This is where Blue Eyes was supposed to step in and stop him.

As Koba was just thinking that though, time seemed to have slowed when he noticed that his other self had suddenly launched Ash right over the edge of the railings.

"No!" Koba shouted as he tried to run but was seemingly stuck there on the spot.

There was a scream from Ash as he fell and then a resounding thump, far below, ceasing the young chimp's cry.

Horrified at what he had just saw, Koba was then able to find the strength to move his limbs again and quickly rushed on over toward the balcony and peered over the edge. There, far beneath them all, he could see the limp form of a body, with a dark pool of red spreading out from underneath it. Gasping, Koba moved away from the railing and rounded his head back towards the young apes for Blue Eyes, but didn't see him among the others. Panting, Koba turned back to angrily glare at his other self who slowly turned around to face them all.

"Apes… follow… Pope. Now," the scarred bonobo said slowly.

At the mention of Pope's name, Koba took a step back, his anger quickly replaced by confusion at what he had just heard. As he met his other self in the eyes, Koba then noticed that the other ape's face slowly started to peel away in clumps of flesh, blood oozing down his features. Slowly, fishnet scars replaced the left side of what was Koba's past self, with the right side of his eyes turning into a pale-green color, mirroring his left side.

"Pope…" Koba breathed, taking a wary step backward.

"Apes! Follow! Pope now!" Pope shouted as he rushed towards Koba and stood right in front of him.

Too shocked to say anything, all Koba could do was stand there and met the other ape in the eyes. Dead cold eyes.

"Look, Koba," Pope said softly as he pointed just a few feet away.

Koba followed Pope's finger and his eyes widened. The scenery had suddenly changed and Koba found himself back within Caesar's dwelling. Koba's blood then ran cold as he saw the bodies of both Cornelia and Blue Eyes laying on the stoney ground, they too surrounded by a pool of red.

"No…" Koba breathed as he fell to his knees and could only stare with teary eyes at the bodies of both Cornelia, and Blue Eyes.

"Look. What you caused," Pope whispered into Koba' ear, placing his hands upon the weeping bonobo's shoulders "Ash. Cornelia. Blue Eyes. All dead. All apes dead. Because of you," Pope continued as he waved his hand around, showing Koba the masses of ape bodies that surrounded the both of them.

"I-"

Pope then shushed Koba before letting out a small chuckle as he stepped in front of the scarred bonobo and seemingly stared at Cornelia and Blue Eyes' lifeless forms. He then slowly rounded himself to face Koba again and gently placed a finger under the bonobo's chin, lifting his face up to meet his own decaying one.

"Apes. All die. Koba. Because. Of you," Pope whispered sweetly.

Not believing in what he was hearing, Koba reached up and placed his hands over his ears and closed his eyes, hoping to drive away at Pope's words that plagued his mind. That however, merely caused Pope to merely chuckle at him at the pathetic attempt. The dead chimpanzee then reached down and took a hold of Koba's hands and pulled them away from the bonobo's ears.

"Who. is fault?" Pope asked with a sneer to his bloody mouth.

Koba was silent for a moment and stared defiantly up at the bloodied chimpanzee who stood over him. However, the longer he stared at Pope the more the other ape reminded him of all the misdeeds he had done and Koba couldn't help but lower his head in shame.

"My fault…" Koba answered lowly, causing Pope to hum in amusement. "All my fault," Koba continued.

"Yes. All your fault," Pope agreed as he stood there.

While Koba was wallowing in despair, he then heard movement in front of him and he slowly glanced back up at Pope. The chimpanzee was fiddling with something within his hands and to Koba's surprise, he noticed a kitchen blade within Pope's fingers. Pope's dull glassy eyes looked back and forth from Koba to the blade and a gleeful smile spread upon his features before he leaned down and was face to face with Koba once more.

"Koba knows this blade, yes?" Pope asked. "Going to us it on Rex," he continued to state as he pricked his finger on the blade's tip, drawing some blood on it.

Huffing, Koba looked at the blade that was slowly being drenched in red liquid.

"Does Koba know what he should do?" Pope asked suddenly, confusing Koba.

The chimpanzee then raised the blade high over his head as he bared his bloody fangs down at the bonobo beneath him, startling the other ape.

"Koba. should die!" Pope shouted, as the blade came falling down, striking Koba in his chest.

With a gasp, Koba's eyes suddenly snapped open and he sat up quickly. Panting aloud, his breath fogged out of him with each exhale into the cold night air. Quickly glanced down at his chest, Koba found no indication of any wound there, all except old scars. Relief settling within his body, Koba closed his eyes as he took in a lungful of cold night air to ease his heart, which pounded deeply within his chest. Letting out a long drawn breath, Koba then opened up his eyes once more to look around him. There within the dark with the only source of light from the dying embers, he could see the silhouettes of the others, soundlessly sleeping around him.

Glad that he did not wake up the others, Koba stood up and walked a little bit away from the group and sat by the edge of their little camp. Pulling his limbs close to him, Koba once more brooded by himself as the actions of his past and events that had transpired from it, continued to haunt him. Grunting quietly, Koba then placed his head into his hands, digging his nails into his skull. He hated this. Hated these terrible dreams so much. Why couldn't he get rid of these foul nightmares.

As he silently sat there, Koba then felt something soft and small touch his shoulder. With a sharp intake of breath, Koba snapped his head at whoever touched him and was surprised to see the little human girl looking at him worriedly, who seemed to have jumped herself at his reaction. At first Koba was confused as to why the little human girl was here and not with Maurice, as she should be. Was she not able to sleep too? Why was she out in the dark with him? And looking at him with...

With eyes of pity.

He hated that look. That look that the others would give him because of his weakness. It did nothing but reminded him of the terrible things that he had endured and had done to others. He need not be reminded of what he had done, or had been done to him in the past. With a snarl, Koba scared the little human girl who jumped and quickly ran back and nestled herself into Maurice's form, causing the orangutan to snort, lift his head and then comfort the young human girl.

Unbeknownst to Koba and the human child, sat a bulky figure among the the leaves of the bushes. The nearly hairless form of Rocket peered out from behind his hiding spot and solemnly watched as Koba once more lowered his head and continued to languish by himself. This was not well for the scarred bonobo and Rocket knew it, but what could he do? Only Koba could rid himself of what was troubling him, only if he allowed others to help him… Maybe in due time Rocket himself and the others could do something. As of now though, they had other matters to attend to.

With that in mind, Rocket silently stepped away from his spot and made his way back to the camp area where the others rested.

...

Caesar woke with a startling gasp, finding himself lying on the ground near the now dead bonfire that they had all surrounded. Disoriented, he found Maurice standing over him, with the small human girl riding on his back, both peering down at him.

" _The soldiers are leaving!_ " the orangutan signed urgently as he gestured to the opening of their secluded area.

Scrambling up to his feet, Caesar found Rocket, Luca and Koba already crouching behind the trees and bushes as they spied on the humans. He heard the rumbling thunder of vehicles and horses on the move as they all passed on by.

Walking up to the others, Caesar noticed an open space near Koba, who was also gazing out at the humans. Caesar had absentmindedly made his way on over toward the scarred bonobo but then halted himself. He stood there as he regarded Koba momentarily, but thought better of it and instead made his way past the scarred bonobo and squeezed on next to both Rocket and Luca instead. Getting a small greeting from the other two, Caesar observed and could recall Rex's words, telling him that the humans were heading on north to meet up with the Colonel, rendezvousing with more soldiers.

Apparently Rex had been telling them the truth… before he was murdered by Caesar's own bare hands.

If the soldiers were leaving to join the Colonel and the rest of these soldiers from the north, then his course was clear. Caesar himself was going to follow these humans. Follow them to the ends of the earth, if need be.

So that he could have his revenge.

…

Maxwell could never imagined that he could be so tired after recent events. The man had found himself sitting on some chairs and begrudgingly glaring out at the entryway of the makeshift infirmary that they were in. He and Nicholas had spent nearly all night trying to help this chimpanzee that they had found by the river within the redwoods. The ordeal itself, was terrifying for Max. Even after years of seeing such atrocities and things that no one ever should, he still felt queasy after helping Nick out with the procedures of healing this ape. Looking down at his hands Max could still see some blood on them and heaved out a tired sigh, while he leaned back into his chair. A few heartbeats later, Max could hear the sounds of footsteps coming towards him, and he turned to look.

"He seems stabilized now," Nick spoke quietly as he stopped in front of Max and looked at him questionably.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that we were both able to fix and mend the ape, keeping him from dying on us. Honestly, I can't believe we were still able to help him. With a head wound like that, it's… it's a miracle that he's still alive," Nicholas answered glancing back in the direction of their charge.

"So… he'll be okay then?" Max asked.

"Yes thankfully. For now," Nick responded with a tired smile, rounding back to face his companion.

"You know… I still don't understand why you did all this," Max said after a moment.

At that, both Nicholas and Maxwell grew silent.

"Anyways, you look like shit," Max said suddenly, causing Nick to blink up in surprise. "Go and rest up. I'll take first watch."

"But what about me telling you-"

"That, can be done later. Right now you need sleep, as do I… but one of us needs to stay up and look after our guy over there. You said that the ape is doing okay right? Meaning he's not going to die, right?"

"Well, yes. But-"

"Then if anything happens I'll wake you up and let you know," Max interrupted the other again. "Go to sleep. Don't need you passing out when you're needed."

Nick was going to say something else but heaved out a tired breath and simply smiled.

"Thank you, Max. I really mean it."

Max turned his dark brown eyes up and met Nick's pale blue ones for a moment before waving a hand into the air.

"Yeah, yeah. Just go and rest up already," Max grumbled.

At this, Nick chuckled lightly before he slowly sauntered off towards one of the beds within the room.

After a few moment, Max could hear the light snoring of his companion and he stood up and stretched his tired body. He then walked on over to where their patient was. There he could see the ape, whose wounds were cleaned and closed with stitches and other medical supplies that laid about. The chimp was hooked up with several machines that miraculously still worked, keeping the ape's vitals in check. The machine was powered by a gas generator that was still able to keep things running for at least two more weeks. At least, that was what Nicholas had informed him. Turning back around to look at Nick, Max wondered what secrets the other man was hiding from him. How did he know of so much things from here?

While lost within his thoughts, Max was startled when the sounds of their radio came on. Making his way on over to the radio, Maxwell quickly lowered the volume as to not disrupt the others and listened. It was mostly reports, given from the head honchos about meeting up with the Northern Army to stop McCullough. They were to all meet up at a rendezvous point before marching on as a singular unit to face the these so called "Alpha Omegas" head on.

With a sigh, Maxwell clicked the machine off and took in a deep breath. He knew for sure now that both he and Nick are not going to meet up with the rest of the army. They would need to follow up eventually but they would need a good excuse to as of why they had not shown up earlier.

Oh well… they'll just have to come up with something. Besides, in this day and age, many people can get lost out in the barren world, if strayed too far from safety. Rounding his head, Max then stared out of the window, seeing that daybreak was just now beginning and with that, he kept a watchful eye on their small little group.

…

Caesar and the others continued to ride after the Colonel's troops, maintaining their distance. The small army had headed eastward, leaving the coast behind in favor of the wooded valleys and canyons beyond. Gruffly, Caesar ushered his horse forward after them with the others following close behind.

Trailing after the rest of the army, the group all travelled through miles of rugged, overgrown plains and marshes. Through fields of high grasses with wildflowers and found themselves making their way through forgotten ghost towns that must have once been populated by human life. Now nothing more than rundown homes, overrun with vines and weeds.

In time, the snow-capped peaks of the towering mountains loomed before the group. Abandoning the plains and valleys behind them, they ascended into the rugged peaks beyond, where the climate grew colder. Their hairy coats provided some sense of degree of protection against the frigid cold winds, as they had done during the chilly winters back in the redwood forest. Even so, the harsh weather is a brutal reminder that apes had evolved to thrive in tropical climates and not this frigid wilderness surrounding them.

Caesar shivered atop of his horse, blowing upon his hands and fingers to keep them from going numb. His green eyes squinted into the blowing snow, as he observed the trail ahead. Concerned for the others, he glanced back over his shoulder to see how they were all faring. He glimpsed Maurice on his own horse, gently sheltering the human girl with his shaggy body. The mute child clung to the massive orangutan, seeking the warmth of his body. The snow dusted Maurice's orange fur, making him look prematurely ancient. Peering past Maurice, Caesar checked on both Rocket and Luca. The silverback seemed to be taking the weather stoutly, with his head held high but Caesar could tell that Luca was just as cold as he noticed the gorilla shudder every now and then. Rocket on the other hand… the nearly bald chimpanzee had little fur or hair on his body and Caesar himself hoped that his good friend was not suffering too severely from the flurry that blew around them. Letting his gaze wander, he then found Koba, the scarred bonobo rubbing his hands up and down his arms, mouth set into a constant frown. The more he looked at Koba the more he could see how miserable the other ape was. Like usual, Caesar himself felt nothing for the suffering bonobo. Both he and Koba briefly made eye contact and held it for a moment before the scarred ape quickly glanced elsewhere. Letting out a huff, Caesar turned back around, knowing that the others were at least well.

Eventually, the group came upon the human soldiers, the flurry of wind and snow still blowing around them all. Halting the group, Caesar pointed toward the camps where the vehicles could be seen and yelling could be heard.

"They stopped," Caesar said aloud.

Rocket rode up to Caesar's side and squinted at the army as well but before anything else could have been asked or said, gunfire rang throughout the air, causing all of the apes to duck their heads. The horses cried and bucked fearfully at the sound of gunfire with Caesar and the others quickly dismounting the startled animals and hurriedly taking cover behind some stoney crags. A few more gunshots followed and they all kept still.

" _What are they shooting at?_ " Rocket asked as he had made his way up next to Caesar to sign.

"I don't know," Caesar answered honestly, shaking his head all the while.

The apes had lost track of time as they hunkered down the side of the stone crags. Eventually the blizzard around them had subsided, making it much easier to see and hear, but they all did not hear anymore gunshots. Emerging from their hidings cautiously, everyone scanned about, seeing if there were any hostile human soldiers along the trail. The fresh snow crunched beneath their feet as the moved about, but the noise attracted no gunfire.

Whatever they had heard before, it appeared to be over.

Making their way cautiously through the snowy trail the group found themselves approaching another set of crude wooden crosses, like the ones they had found before by the sea, staked into the snow on the side. These crosses, made from broken branches and the like, looked new, seeming to have been erected just a short time before. Approaching the crosses, the apes made another grisly discovery. Beneath those crosses laid three bodies, already being buried by the snowstorm before.

Curiously, Caesar crouched down next to one of the bodies.

"Caesar, don't," Koba spoke up.

Caesar however, ignored the scarred bonobo and tugged the fabric off of one of the bodies, revealing the face of a female soldier. Her eyes were closed upon her pale face and dried blood was caked beneath her nose.

Huffing Rocket had glanced on over to the next body and made his way on over towards it. Bending down, he too unmasked the body, revealing the face of a bearded male human with the same features. Eyes mercifully shut and with caked blood that had run down from his nose too. All of a sudden the human male's eyes snapped opened, along with a gasp, startling everyone around him.

The man cried out in pain and writhed on the snowy ground, reaching up to place his hand over his wound, panting in gasping breaths. Caesar and the others were quick to react as they all had aimed their weapons down at the human soldier while Maurice hooted in the background and tried to shield the child. The human however, kept his frightened eyes up at them while he breathed painfully. Seeing this, confusion overcame Caesar's features and he slowly lowered himself and reached under the human's head, gently bringing the man's head up, causing him to groan in pain.

"Caesar?" Koba breathed, his face looking back and forth from the human to the chimpanzee.

"Why did they shoot you?" Caesar asked simply.

The man, seeming to understand Caesar then opened him mouth to speak. Instead though, the human soldier was only producing guttural grunts and incoherent gasps in response, confusing the apes. Looking down at the human, Caesar's brows narrowed and a thought had suddenly crossed his mind. Turning his head slowly, he then regarded the human girl behind them all, with everyone else following his gaze.

" _Like her!_ " Maurice signed. " _He cannot speak._ "

Caesar kept his gaze upon Maurice and the human child while Rocket and Luca looked back and forth. Koba on the other hand, balled up the fist in the hand that didn't hold a gun and simply stared at the human girl, his features set into a frown.

" _He will die of those wounds,_ " Maurice finally gestured.

Caesar finally turned back to the human and gently placed the man's head back down.

"Let him die," Koba could be heard speaking up from behind.

Caesar could hear Maurice grunting behind as well, most likely signing something to the scarred bonobo.

"Don't care. Let him suffer," Koba growled in response. "They are the cause of this."

At this Caesar snapped his head in Koba's direction and glared up at the scarred bonobo.

"And you are one to speak!" Caesar growled.

Koba blinked once in Caesar's direction and after a moment, lowered his weapon, along with his shoulders. Koba looked as if he was about to say something, but thought better on it and kept his mouth shut. Instead he lowered his gaze down toward the snow beneath his feet and made no further comments. Everyone else had their eyes turned back toward Caesar and Rocket couldn't help but shake his head slowly from side to side.

"Luca..." Caesar spoke up, turning back to regard the silverback.

Understanding, Luca nodded and turned toward Maurice and the human girl, gesturing at the both of them for what is about to happen. Maurice glanced at Caesar for a moment and knew what the chimpanzee leader was going to do. He turned to watch Koba for a moment before finally meeting Caesar's gaze once more. There were many things that was going through the orangutan's mind but he thought best to address them at a later time. As of now, he needed to take the little human child away from what was going to occur.

Once Luca had seen that Maurice and the little girl had taken their leave, Caesar slowly let his gaze focus back to the human beneath him. Huffing, Caesar then pointed the end of his gun at the human who in turn closed their eyes, resigning himself to his fate. Gritting his teeth, Caesar hovered his finger over the trigger his weapon. He definitely had no qualms about shooting other humans before, but right now… he was at a crossroads. However, as he thought on it, if something was to cause an ape to suffer as much as it did this human, Caesar himself would have wished mercy upon them as well, whoever they may be. Even if they were…

Blinking, Caesar slowly turned his head and could see Koba standing just a few feet away. The scarred bonobo had a look of defeat about him with his shoulders slacked. It looked almost pathetic in a way to Caesar but indeed. He would have wished mercy for Koba too as much as it pained him to even think so.

With that in mind, Caesar pulled on the trigger to his weapon and the still air erupted with the report of gunfire.


	57. Chapter 57

By afternoon the apes had found themselves silently traveling through freezing snow, seemingly losing the track of the soldiers trail that they had been following. At this Caesar couldn't help but growled inwardly at himself for losing the army's trail, but that couldn't be helped, due to the weather they were in. They all soon found what looked like a spot with a giant red radio tower that jutted into the sky. Looking up at it, Caesar wondered that maybe if they were to climb it, they could pinpoint the location of the trail that they had lost.

"We need to climb," Caesar ordered to the others, sparing them a slight glance before making his way on over towards the cold metal structure and started to clamber up it.

Huffing, Rocket got off of his own horse and followed Caesar. Stopping by the tower, he glanced on back and noticed Koba silently following, with his head held slightly low. Watching the scarred bonobo, Rocket didn't know what to do or to say. What Caesar had said earlier, toward Koba, had affected him deeply. He couldn't help but frown at the thought of Caesar belittling Koba and pushing the other ape down. He knew that Caesar was acting out in spite and anger but sometimes it was a little much. Huffing, Rocket needed to do something about it soon, lest it leaded to some sort of altercation, or worst, physical violence.

"Come, Koba," Rocket spoke to the scarred Bonobo, who lifted his face to look his way. "Climb," Rocket indicated before hefting himself up onto the cold metal.

Maurice on the other hand gently got down from his own steed and spared the human child a glance. The child made to get down from the horse but Maurice simply held the girl in place and gently shook his head from side to side. For a moment, Maurice wondered if the girl would understand him and waited for her to react in some way. However, the child looked back and forth from where Caesar was climbing toward Maurice's gentle features and slowly nodded. The orangutan beamed lightly up at the girl and moved along, following the others.

Passing on by last was Luca who had stayed back to make sure that the horses were secured and not going to run off. Turning his head he met the little girl's stare and stopped momentarily in his tracks. He glanced at the curious looking girl before his eyes darted to the others, seeing that they were busy with climbing the tower before meeting the child's once more. Seeing her sitting there all alone with the horses made Luca himself worry for the child. Huffing he looked around and could see the child's stuff toy poking just slightly out of one of the sacks on Maurice's horse. Reaching over, Luca pulled the makeshift doll out and raised it towards the girl. The child stared at her stuffed doll and reached out, accepting it from the silverback. Looking down at her toy, she then offered Luca the sweetest smile she could muster, to which Luca promptly reciprocated with a couple of soft pants from himself. With that, the gorilla moved onward and followed after the others, up towards the top of the tower.

Once reaching near the top of the tower, the vantage point offered Caesar and the others an impressive view of the colossal mountain range stretching out endlessly around them, all blanketed with the white of the snow. To his disappointment though, the soldier's trail had gone cold, in more ways than one.

" _Where did the soldiers go?_ " Maurice then asked as he looked around for any signs of the trail as well.

"Red said that they were going to the border," Caesar responded.

" _Yes, but which way is that?_ " Luca had asked next.

At this, Caesar had breathed deeply, wishing he knew the answer to that question.

Far below the tower the girl sat atop of Maurice's horse, having craned her neck all the way back to see the apes in their perch high above. Growing slightly bored, she had looked back down to play with her doll, rocking it back and forth in her hands.

While the child was playing with her doll, neither she nor the other apes noticed as a furtive figure had crept out from the woods. A well-work green parka, complete with a fur-lined hood, concealed the figure's identity. Scuffed snow boots made little sound as the figure snuck up toward one of the unattended horses and quietly rummaged through a saddlebag. The figure's breath misted before their lips as they fumbled to extract several things from one of the sacks, only to clumsily drop a flashlight into the snow at their feet.

The figure had froze, looking back up at the child and around themselves to see if anyone had heard the flashlight hit the snow. The girl on the other horse however, simply remained focused on her doll, oblivious to the stranger's presence. Letting out a relieved sigh, the figure dug deeper into the bag and was rewarded by the discovery of a shotgun.

At the top of the tower, Koba was still quiet and kept to himself as the others were discussing on how to follow after the soldiers. He was half halfheartedly listening, still thinking on what Caesar had said to him and had taken the time to look back down. As he lazily stared at the horses and human child below, the fur on his body had suddenly stood on end when he noticed another figure, and intruder, rummaging through the sacks on one of the horses. Before Koba could warn the others, Luca had already beat him to it as the silverback had let out a spine-chilling roar that shook the air. Startled by Luca's roar, the girl had finally looked up from her doll, just as the figure, realizing that he's been seen, had leaped onto the back on the surprised horse and galloped away with their supplies.

With blinding and graceful speed, Koba was the first to reach the horses at the bottom. Following after him were both Caesar and Luca, who mounted onto their own horses, Luca taking Rocket's, and were already chasing after the thief in the green parka. Maurice was quick to make sure the girl was alright before getting on his horse and followed suit. Rocket on the other hand was the only one left without a horse and Koba stretched his arm out towards the bulky chimpanzee. Koba and Rocket knew well that with their combine weight, they weight at about as much or just a little bit over than what Luca is, therefore not over-cumbering the horse beneath them. Without a word, Rocket took a hold of Koba's outstretched hand and was lifted onto the brown stallion as they both chased after the others.

All of the apes wasted no time chasing after the stranger into the snowy woods, weaving through the tall evergreens and leaping over ravines and logs while striving to keep their elusive quarry in sight, even as he darted in and out of view. The apes knew that if they lost sight of the thief, they would never be able to find the stranger again, as the mountainous snowy region offered many places to hide.

Despite their headlong flight, the apes behind the thief were gaining traction. Breaking from the woods, the figure rode at full tilt up a vast snow-covered slope that stretched high into the mountains. A slash of gunfire sparked from the thief's shotgun, alerting the others to the danger. They all ducked, but the blast had missed them all by a wide margin, blasting a few branches and pine needles from a tree. Charging up the a stark white incline that dwarfed them all, the apes found themselves coming across a old broken down gondola. Another shot rang out an ricocheted off of the gondolas with a metallic _ching_. Either the thief was trying to scare them off or they were truly a terrible marksman. Whatever the case, Caesar was determined to not let this person go. Staying in pursuit, the apes followed the figure up to the top of the slope, where they came upon an unexpected sight.

Slowing down their horses, the apes came onto a large, rambling ski lodge that was built at the top of the snowy mountainside. Looking at the structure, the apes were quite impressed that even though it was exposed to the years and elements, it still stood firm. While observing the structure, Luca had grunted out and pointed.

" _My horse!_ " he had signed.

And there it was, the stolen white horse, now riderless, wandered idly through the pristine ground before the lodge. Dismounting from his horse, as did the others, Caesar had then cautiously looked around for any signs of the threat from the thief but saw none. He cautioned them all to be careful and quickly pulled out his firearm.

" _I think our thief went in there,_ " Rocket signaled as he pointed at the scattered tracks that lead into the lodge.

Looking down at the tracks that Rocket had found, Caesar had then cautioned them all to proceed carefully while they followed the trail. Approaching a broken window sill, the apes all went in, one by one. Maurice on the other hand, decided it best for him and the child to stay behind, as danger lurked just a little bit further inside.

Entering the lodge, the apes marveled at how much bigger the interior looked from the inside. Surely this was a grand resort of some kind as it held a rather giant lobby, spacious walls, a giant stairwell, tattered furnishing, high ceiling and with glass chandeliers hanging all over, now all glazed over with a crystalline layer of ice. Snow gently swirled in the air, drifting down through a gap in the ceiling.

While looking about, Caesar looked down and spotted boot prints on the floor, leading themselves straight into the giant opening of a large stone fireplace. Turning back to look at the others, Caesar could see that Koba had noticed the tracks too and had a stern look about him. Rounding himself toward the others, Caesar nodded at both Rocket and Luca, who reciprocated before he slowly lead the group toward the empty hearth. Peering inside Caesar was quite frustrated to see that the fireplace was deep and dark enough to conceal whoever might be hiding inside it.

They all paused before the opening, their rifles all drawn. To the side, the apes noticed that there were canned food, firewood, and other supplies were heaped to one side of the hearth, while a thick layer of ash suggested that the fireplace had recently been used. Unamused by this, Caesar cocked his rifle loudly and leveled it at the fireplace with Koba, Rocket and Luca doing the same with their own firearms.

The air grew tense as the silent drew on and on between the apes and the thief. All of a sudden, the stolen shotgun was haphazardly tossed out of the hearth, landing with a thud at the ape's feet. They all glanced back into the hearth and next came out a pair of binoculars, landing next to the startled apes all glanced at one another before the sounds of crunching could be heard and they all focused their attention back into the dark hearth.

Slowly, the image of a green coat-the thief-emerged from the dark hearth. The figure made no sudden or aggressive moves on their part as they approached. The fugitive kept their head low, which hung remorsefully, still hidden by the hood of the parka, with their hands held up in surrender. The apes all frowning, still waited for the figure to raised their head so that they could see who and what they were dealing with. As the figure raised their head, a look of surprise overcame all of the apes features. Their thief's face, revealed that of a nervous, apologetic face of… an ape.

An adult male chimpanzee, in fact, although the chimpanzee was not exactly an impressive specimen of their breed. Small and timid-looking, he was at least a foot shorter than either Caesar, Rocket or Koba, the latter being that of the bonobo species who was usually a tad shorter than their stout chimpanzee cousins. The chimpanzee's small, rounded head boasted more skin than hair, much like Rocket. While the ape's ears were very much oversized, even by chimp standards. His scrawny frame was practically lost in the parka, which appeared to be a few sized too large for him.

"Bad a-ape," the chimpanzee said hesitantly, putting on a sheepish smile as his bright green eyes darted between all of them.

At this Rocket and Luca glanced at each other in bewilderment, while Caesar and Koba merely kept their gaze upon this new ape. They all was not entirely sure on what to make of the little odd chimp, whom they all did not recognize as one of the apes they had liberated from the city years ago. The matter of fact is though, it was hard to regard this chimp as a threat of any kind, given his demeanor. The chimpanzee then offered a sheepish smile at the others as they regarded him.

"Bad Ape," the chimp repeated once more in a soft voice.

Rocket was the first to act as he lowered his gun and approached the new chimpanzee.

" _Who are you?_ " he signed.

" _What are you doing here?_ " Luca followed up just as quickly.

The smaller chimp tilted his head in confusion, as though he didn't comprehend the questions that were being asked of him by both Rocket and Luca. Simply peering at the gestures with a baffled expression.

" _I… don't think he understands,_ " Luca signed to the others after a few heartbeats.

Caesar was getting that impression, which flummoxed him to a degree. He had grown so accustomed to all apes knowing sign language that it felt rather strange to encounter one who did not.

" _I don't recognize him,_ " Rocket signed, confirming to Caesar and the others their own conclusion of the ape. " _He's not one of us._ "

"Are you…"

All heads now rounded towards Koba as he had suddenly spoke up instead.

"Alone here?"

The chimpanzee blinked lightly in Koba's direction and quickly nodded his head in response to the question.

A solitary ape, living alone in the frigid mountains? Caesar himself was trying to imagine how that could have come to pass when a creaking noise behind him caused all heads to turn toward the lobby's stairway, where Maurice and the human girl could be seen standing there. They peered uncertainty, at the others, and their peculiar new acquaintance. The girl, the apes could see, was shivering badly from the cold. Her thin clothing was very much ill-suited to this altitude and climate that they were all in. Humans, generally had no natural protection against the cold. The thought had bothered Caesar, vaguely, that he had not given this much thought until now, regarding the girl's condition.

The new chimpanzee noticed the girl, too. He started to lowers his hands, drawing them near the button part of his parka, causing Rocket to notice him. The bulkier, nearly hairless chimpanzee raised his rifle suspiciously, but the small chimpanzee simply glanced back up at the others, his eyes darting over to the girl for a moment and then back towards them.

"Cold," the chimpanzee spoke.

The ape then continued in what he was doing and removed the clothing, revealing a thing frame, held the parka in one hand before he pointed a finger on over toward the shivering girl.

"Cold," the ape repeated once more.

The apes all turned to the little human girl and slowly all rounded themselves back to the chimp in front of them with interest.

…

"Hurry it up!" a voice shouted, followed by the sound of a whip cracking.

Winter hissed as his pelt was struck by the lacerating whip, sending blood flying through the air and marking white of his fur, as well as the snow beneath him a crimson red. He faltered momentarily at the sudden pain, nearly dropping the heavy stone in his hands. Luckily though, Winter held firm as he huffed and passed the huge chunk along.

How could things could have turned out so wrong for them?

It had only been merely days ago when the exodus was led by Ash, in the absence of their king and generals. Assisting Rocket's son were Grey, Andy, Oak, Percy and Spear, all whom rallied around Ash. While traveling toward their new home, they had not expected to have been suddenly attacked by the human soldiers. So much for Caesar leading the soldiers away, Winter had thought.

Caught in the open, many of the apes were killed during the sudden attack. Guns… they were undiscriminating, as they struck down the strong. The old… even the young. No matter what the apes had done during the shootout, they couldn't fight and defend at the same time, with so many of their females and children unable to protect themselves.

After what seemed like and eternity, Winter, along with the rest of the apes were all chained together. He remembered the humans savagely ripping the children away from their mothers and were all thrown into a cage of some human vehicle. The cries of the little ones as they reached out for their parents were indescribable. The fathers of the children had leapt into action to take back their young ones. Many were hurt in the process. Others lost their lives.

Winter remembered seeing Tinker, Lake and Maple valiantly fighting off the men who had tried to get at the two little ones who clung to the older female. He remembered seeing Ash angrily hooting for the humans to stop and had received a punt from the butt end of a rifle to his head, causing him to fall to the ground with a loud thump. In the end, they had manage to get to Cornelius and Cinder as well, holding down the three females and tossed the two little ones in with the rest.

The humans had won this fight and began to march the apes all northward without food or water. During their march, Winter had seen a few of their members falling down to the ground and couldn't get up, either due to fatigue and or wounds that were not healed properly. Some of the apes had tried to help them, but to no avail. They all observed then, as a few of the human soldiers walked on over to see what was going on. At first, Winter and the others thought that maybe they would help the fallen apes, by placing them in the vehicles. Instead the humans had taken out their knives and cut the throat of the apes who had fallen. The humans then laughed and said something along the lines of "saving bullets."

Eventually they all made it to the dreaded place after days of walking without much rest. After that, the apes were all quickly put to work. At first many of the warriors and a few other apes had refused to do so, these included both Spear and Andy. But that was a mistake as the human quickly made an example of ones who do not listen. The apes who had refused, were tied to a pole and were repeatedly whipped over and over again, with red staining the ground beneath them, seeping into the wood and snow. However, that didn't seem enough and many still refused, their combined will strong and unbreakable. It was only when the apes were shown their little ones in a giant pen, all crying and reaching out toward their mothers and fathers, with the humans pointing their guns at them, threatening to shoot them, did the apes finally falter and agree to work.

The apes who had refused to work were made to work the hardest as they were constantly watched over and would be whipped every few often. After that, the humans and turncoat apes decided to randomly whip any of the apes within their vicinity.

Just as he was about to hand the stone off, Winter froze momentarily as he turned to the ape next to him. There stood Coral, Ajax's sister. Her belly round with child, belonging both to her and her late mate, Kilo. As he saw her face, Winter could see that the female's eyes were still quite red and puffy, due to her crying. If he had remembered correctly, during the sudden attack, Kilo had used his body to shield Coral, protecting her and their unborn child. It was there and then, where Coral witnessed her beloved losing his life to protect her and their unborn baby.

Winter could remember well, Coral's anguished cry as she held onto her dearly beloved as he was one of many that they had lost that day. Now both of them stood there, both having lost their loved one, with no one else there to comfort them. Now all Coral had left, was the life in her belly. The life that represented both her and her beloved Kilo's love for each other. One that she needed to protect.

Seeing Coral being made to work so hard like this, Winter couldn't help but feel sympathy for the pregnant female. What would Glade have done if he were here? At that thought, Winter couldn't help but laugh at himself. Of course the bonobo would have gone out of his way to help the others, whoever they may be. A selfless bonobo, who was only happy when other apes around him were content. Something that was the complete opposite of what Winter usually was, and what made him love Glade so much.

" _Winter?_ " Coral took a moment to gesture up at the white furred gorilla, snapping the male out of his thoughts.

"Hey! What's the matter there! Move it!" One of the soldiers shouted from behind.

Coral's fearful eyes darted towards the source of the noise and she quickly gestured for Winter to hand her the stone again. Taking a deep cold breath, Winter took a step forward, past Coral and handed the heavy object to the ape at the pregnant female's other side.

"Every three," Winter strained under his breath as he quickly reached behind him and accepted another stone.

At first Coral didn't quite understand what Winter had meant as she accepted the stone from him and passed it on. However, everytime she would reach out for the third heavy stone, Winter would simply leaned past her and hand it to the ape next to her down the line. It was then she understood that he was relieving her of such a burden, if even by a little. Knowing this, Coral looked up at Winter as fresh new tears welled up from her. Ever since her beloved Kilo's death, her own world had fallen apart. She would think that maybe she would not have the strength to go on living. But everytime she touched at her belly, she knew that she had to. Luckily for her, Winter had decided to help her and she was sincerely grateful for that.

"Thank you. Winter," Coral said under her breath.

Regarding Coral for the briefest of moments, Winter simply nodded at her and continued as one of the rocks were handed to him.

…

Caesar and the others found themselves sitting by a toasty fire, as it crackled within the hearth, combating the cold that was invading the lobby from outside. Accepting the hospitality of _Bad Ape_ , so the chimp calls himself and have no other name, the apes simply warmed themselves before the flickering flames. Bad Ape's parka was now enveloped by the human girl, who was no longer shivering from the cold. While they all sat there, the apes had took in the impressive hoard of scavenged supplies lying in heaps around the fireplace. Dry goods, canned foods, and a treasure trove of miscellaneous tools and relics suggested how this Bad Ape, had managed to survive on his own for so long.

"I see girl, I think you human," the smaller chimp explained as he indicated to the child, before his face lit up. "But you ape! Like me!" he exclaimed happily.

Understandably excited to be in the company of his own kind, Bad Ape grinned at Caesar and the others, until a sound came from the side and he noticed the girl picking up a shiny silver trinket from his hoard. Giant green eyes lighting up, Bad Ape reached on over and retrieve the item in the girl's hands.

"No, put down," Bad Ape said gently as he returned the item back to the pile, while Maurice comforted the child.

"How long have you been here?" Caesar asked, once Bad Ape had returned to his spot.

"Long time," Bad Ape answered immediately. "Long, long time."

At this Caesar sat back and pondered on the thought. Before anything else could be said though, a thought seemed to have struck Bad Ape and he quickly scurried away from the group to rummage through what looked like a makeshift hammock nearby. He then returned to them all, bearing a small stuffed animal, fashioned to resemble a scaly green crocodile. He handed the plush toy to Caesar and sighed wistfully.

"Home," Bad Ape said as he pointed to the stuffed animal. "Old home."

Puzzled, Caesar inspected the toy. Turning it over, he found a partial answer embroidered on the belly of the crocodile:

 _Sierra Zoo_.

Looking back up at Bad Ape another question popped into Caesar's head.

"Are there more like you? More apes from zoo?" He had asked.

"Dead" Bad Ape answered immediately, cutting Caesar off. "All dead. Long time," Bad Ape continued in a solemn voice as his eyes glanced at everyone in front of him. "Humans get sick. Ape get smart. Then human kill ape. But not me. I run."

Listening to Bad Ape's story, Koba couldn't help the frown that was forming on his face and the hairs on his body to stand on end. To have escaped the vengeful humans, and to have survived so long on his own, was an impressive accomplishment that suggested that there was more to Bad Ape that meets the eye. If what Bad Ape was telling them were true, then he was as much, just like them. Survivors in a cruel human's world.

"You learn to speak?" Koba inquired this time, causing Bad Ape to look his way, next to Rocket.

"Listen. Human…" Bad Ape indicated with a few gestures. His face suddenly contorted with mock fury as he mimicked an angry human, shaking his finger at empty air. "Bad ape!" the chimpanzee said this time. "Bad Ape," he repeated softly as he pointed to himself an endearing smile upon his features.

Bad Ape's act broke off as he noticed that the girl had reclaimed the gleaming Chevy Nova emblem from his junk pile. He then reached out and took it from her again.

"No. No touch," he said as he set the item down once more. "T-that's mine…"

While speaking, something had caused Bad Ape to remember something else and he quickly rushed away without another explanation, leaving the other apes bemused and perplexed by their excitable host, who had suddenly tripped while he was running.

"I'm okay!" Bad Ape exclaimed before the all heard him get back up and begin to rummage through his hoard of things.

" _Amazing,_ " Maurice signed in wonder toward the others as he continued to watch Bad Ape. " _Always thought that we were the only ones. Wonder if there are more in the world? More apes like us._ "

" _Possibly, but who knows,_ " Luca chimed in with a grunt. " _We have only always known just our own._ "

" _During our travels, we never encountered any other apes like us,_ " Rocket signed next before turning to look at Koba.

"Maybe humans killed them all. Like Bad Ape says," Koba responded in a low disgruntled voice.

Maybe and maybe not. Caesar himself had deliberately exposed the apes in his colony to the virus that elevated their intelligence, but perhaps the virus, spreading through the human population, had affected other apes as well? He knew that in due time, the apes that they had liberated from the zoo, who were not exposed to the virus, eventually became intelligent as well. It was a staggering idea to contemplate. For all Caesar knew, there could be intelligent apes all over the planet by now.

Panting, Bad Ape came bounding back into their midst.

"Eat! Eat," Bad Ape said enthusiastically as he poured out brown plastic packages onto the ground in front of them all. "New friends!" Bad Ape continued happily. "Special day!"

While Bad Ape was joyfully exclaiming aloud, Caesar had picked up one of the scavenged packets and turned it over in his hand. The packaging bore and official military seal:

 _California Border Quarantine Facility._

The word "border" leaped out at Caesar as he read the labeling on the package.

"Where did you get this?" Caesar asked quickly.

Already chewing a mouthful of the morsels, Bad Ape did a half swallow before answering.

"Bad place," he said in a hushed voice, bits of food flying out from his mouth as he continued. "I find long time ago. After zoo, I look for food… I find human zoo. Zoo for sick."

While Bad Ape was telling Caesar of his tale, most of everyone had paused to listen to him.

"Big walls," Bad Ape said as he raised his hands to indicate as such. "Big walls. Sick human climb. Bad human kill. And then, a-all get sick. A-all dead now for a long time… long time."

After hearing of what Bad Ape had just told them, everyone was looking at each other worriedly, all except Caesar who kept his eyes on the smaller chimp.

"Bad humans?" Caesar echoed Bad Ape. "Soldiers?"

"Soldiers," Bad Ape repeated as a solemn look overcame his features, recognizing the word.

" _A deserted military camp!_ " Rocket signed. " _On the border._ "

Luca then grunted aloud, gaining all of their attention.

" _Maybe the Colonel and the troops are going there?_ " The silverback had chimed in.

At this it was clear to Caesar that this place that Bad Ape spoke of was worth investigating. Maybe it was the "border" that Rex had told them about.

"Is it far?" Caesar turned back to Bad Ape. "Can you take us?"

"Human zoo?" Bad Ape questioned as he comprehended Caesar's question before he reacted with alarm to the very idea. "No, no go back there. I-, everyone dead. I co-, I come here. Very safe here. Never go back."

As much as Caesar sympathized with Bad Ape's distress, he needed the ape's help if they were going to catch up with the Colonel.

"Please. You must take us!" Caesar said as he reached out a took a hold of Bad Ape.

"No! No! Can not take!" Bad Ape shouted as he fearfully shoved Caesar's hand away too aggressively.

This notion did not sit will with Rocket, who lunged towards the other chimp in anger, to grab at him. Caesar however had stepped between Rocket, to prevent the bulkier chimp from hurting Bad Ape. What Caesar had not accounted for, was their new companion yelping, as he was roughly slammed to the the side of the hearthen fireplace, held onto by strong hands.

All turning to look, they saw Koba holding onto Bad Ape. Fearful for his life, Bad Ape reached up to pry the bonobo's hand off of him but the bigger ape's grip held firm, while baring his fangs all the while.

"You are going to take us!" Koba growled to the frightened chimp that he held onto.

"Koba!" Caesar growled out, causing the bonobo to slightly twitch in his direction.

Bad Ape grunted from the sudden attack but reached up and took a hold of the bigger bonobo's arms and shook his head side to side quickly.

"Cannot take! No! No!" Bad Ape repeated as his fearful big green eyes darted around until they lit up and then he pointed off in one direction. "Look. Look. Look. More snow. Can not go. Must stay," Bad Ape continued as he adjusted in in his attacker's grips.

Koba, along with the others glanced outside of the lodge, seeing that the scared chimp was speaking the truth. It was indeed snowing heavily outside and they all turned back to look at Bad Ape who was still being held onto by Koba.

"Koba," Caesar spoke up once more in a warning tone. "Let him go."

Huffing, Koba eyed the timid ape beneath him before he grudgingly released Bad Ape, eliciting a sigh of relief from the chimpanzee, who acted as though he had just received a stay of execution. Bad Ape then grinned happily at the falling snow outside, which he seemed to think had come to his sudden rescue.

"You eat, you rest. Stay here with me," Bad Ape then continued while he beamed at the other apes, the first he had seen since the early days of the plague.

Caesar glared at Koba, who simply stared back, for a moment before he grimly rounded his gaze out at the falling snow, which gave no evidence of letting up anytime soon. As much as he would hate to admit it, Bad Ape was right to a degree; they could not set off for the camp on the border for the time being.

Relaxing from the sudden outburst, Bad Ape noticed that the girl was still eyeing the silver emblem by his hoard of things. Looking down at it, he then picked it up and handed it to the little one.

"Here, you keep," he offered to which the child happily accepted.

Bad Ape then turned back toward Caesar who had rounded his gaze back on to the group.

"She keep."

Caesar gave Bad Ape a stern look but couldn't help sympathizing with the lonely ape, who had lived in a solitude for so long. If he could recall, twelve years since the rise of their own, and without seeing another of your own kind, was a rather long time. He could only imagine what it must mean to Bad Ape to spend time with other apes again.

Now, if they could only persuade Bad Ape to lead them to the border.

…

As night fell and the apes were all corralled back into their prison, everyone sauntered down onto the cold frigid ground and sulked. Even though it wasn't said among the apes, Ash could definitely see it in their faces as he looked upon them. They were losing hope. Losing hope and faith in Caesar. Some even becoming angry that the ape king had abandoned them to their fate. Ash was very much fearful of this, as he too was starting to lose hope and faith in Caesar… and his father.

How could they? How could they leave when the apes needed them the most? He knew that his dear uncle was hurting deeply. But they all hurt too and Ash just couldn't see why Caesar would try to stray away on such a dark path. Along with that, his father had also abandoned the group of apes, leaving their care all under him. What could he do? He couldn't help himself, lest lead the apes. Oh why did he even accept this responsibility.

Lost in his thoughts, a hand had gently wrapped around Ash's own, causing the chimp to lift his head to see who it was. With the light blaring all around them, Ash could see the face of his dearly beloved, who smiled sadly at him.

"Maple?" Ash breathed quietly, his breath fogging into the frigid cold air.

Maple's smile spread softly evermore and she gently cupped Ash's face, before bringing their foreheads together.

" _Do not fear, Ash. We will get through this,_ " Maple signed as she pulled her head back.

"How?!" Ash snapped all of a sudden. " _How are we supposed to get out of this? Caesar asked me to lead the apes and look where that got us? More apes dead. Others suffering and who knows what else had happened to Spear and the others. We are nowhere near our new home and the human soldiers are just using us!_ "

Ash huffed and puffed as he signed at the brown haired female and simply stared into Maple's eyes. Eyes that somehow still shone brightly, even in this dreaded situation that they were in. Closing his mouth, an apologetic look overcame Ash's features and his nose twitched before he suddenly reached out and hugged the ape in front of him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," He said softly as he buried his head into Maple's shoulder. " _I failed you. I failed everyone._ "

Ash then felt Maple pulling away from him and she gave him a stern look.

" _You did not fail us Ash. You did your best, given the situation of what has happened and nobody blames you for it,_ " Maple signed back. " _I know I don't blame you. But you must still remain strong for the apes who are losing hope,_ " she gestured to the others.

Ash followed Maple's hand and could see that most if not all of the apes, had their heads lowered. Their shoulders were down and a gloom casting a cloud over all of them.

" _Then… what do I do?_ " Ash asked Maple.

" _Show them, Ash. Show the humans. Show the apes. Show them who we are. That we will overcome this and keep on living. No matter what it takes,_ " Maple signed to her beloved. " _You understand?_ "

Ash thought on Maple's words for a long while, mulling it over within his head. The more he thought on it, the more her words did make sense to him. No matter what difficulties or atrocities that had befallen them, the apes kept moving on. Persevering through the most worst of times and something like this, even as bleak as it was. Was no different.

Looking at his beloved Maple again, Ash breathed deeply through his nose and nodded.

"I understand," he said softly.

At this, Maple smiled up at the bulkier male, her eyes shimmering as they became wet with her tears. The both of them embraced each other once more and from there on, fell asleep in each others arms, knowing that they must move forward and overcome this. To show that apes together, were strong.


	58. Chapter 58

**Sorry for the long wait everyone. Been very busy again but here is chapter 58 for you all!**

* * *

Later on through evening the warm fire that was burning within the hearth of the fireplace had since died down to a few fading embers in the cold of the night. Just beyond the broken and cracked windows, the snow was still falling outside. The flakes of ice swirling gently in the night air as if they were glittering white fireflies. With many of the inhabitants within the ski lodge resort fast asleep, one particular ape had found himself having trouble following suit.

This ape, was none other than Koba.

As Koba leaned his back onto one of the beam structures just a stone throw away, he could tell that the others had fallen asleep around him. All exhausted by the many days of exertions and travels that they had undergone. With a quiet huff, Koba frowned, irked that his mind was not able to shut down and allow him some much needed rest. This, of course, was something that was not new to him. As he was still plagued by many a terrible nightmares, of things of long past, that would not leave him be. Reminding him of the terrible deeds that he himself had committed in his blind rage and hatred.

Taking a deep breath, Koba simply exhaled quietly and stared out at the falling snow, hoping that by simply watching the falling flakes, it would lull him to a deep sleep.

"Who is…" a soft voice suddenly spoke up, startling Koba from his thoughts. "Child?" The voice had finished.

His hackles raised and ready to fight, Koba rounded his head slowly to see who it was that had suddenly spoken. Knitting his brows together, Koba was just about to get up but then saw Bad Ape with the bright light of the moon, reflected from the surface of the snow, all curled up and speaking to someone. Confused, Koba craned his neck a little further and saw that Bad Ape was talking to Caesar, whom was looking down at the human child within Maurice's arms.

"I don't know," Caesar spoke up after a few heartbeats.

"But she with you?" Bad Ape asked, understandably confused as to why the human girl was with a bunch of apes and not with her own kind.

There was a long pause for a moment between the two chimpanzees and Koba thought if Caesar would ever answer Bad Ape.

"She has no one else," Caesar responded a moment after.

Koba could then see that Caesar was looking back down at the little human girl, a guilty expression upon his face. At this, Koba was confused as to why Caesar was showing such an emotion. Why did he look so guilty for? He had nothing to be guilty of, Koba had thought… but then it dawned on him. As it was just not so long ago that they had came upon the human child in that run down shacks by the seaside. And Caesar, was the one who took away that human girl's caretaker, or father, whatever that human was to the child. Leaving her all alone in the world. Was that the reason why Caesar had looked so remorseful? Or was it something else?

Bad Ape had then followed Caesar's gaze and he too stared at the little girl. A look of pity settling within the smaller chimp's big green eyes, causing Koba to unconsciously shudder.

"I see you look at her just now," Bad Ape spoke quietly as he rounded his head back in Caesar's direction, brows furrowed quizzically. "Look sad."

Caesar did not answer Bade Ape, but from Koba's perspective, he could see the hurt and pain within the ape leader's eyes, even within the cold snowy night.

"You have child?" Bad Ape asked this time.

As the prodding of questions continued, it riled the scarred bonobo greatly as Bad Ape was intruding so much with such asinine inquiries. The scrawny chimpanzee needs to learn when to hold his tongue and not invade so much into others lives.

"One," Caesar spoke up, gaining Bad Ape's attention and surprising Koba as well. "The other was killed by human," he said gravely.

The look of understanding and sympathy appeared on Bad Ape's face while Koba's throat and chest tightened as Caesar told the other chimp of what had happened.

"Soldier?" Bad Ape questioned a little further.

A look overcame Caesar who slowly glanced in Koba's direction. The scarred bonobo noticing this, immediately turned the other way, fearing that he was found out. Heart pounding within his chest, Koba waited for Caesar to say something to him… anything.

But he heard nothing.

Taking deep breaths, Koba was confused once more and slowly dared to look back to see what had happened. Instead of Caesar glaring at him or saying something about him, the chimpanzee leader had turned back toward Bad Ape and simply nodded once in the quiet of the night.

A pensive and solemn look overcame Bad Ape's usually comical countenance as he processed what Caesar had just told him. The smaller chimp's eyes then began to well up as a few sniffles escaped him.

"I… had… child," Bad Ape finally confessed, his voice full of raw emotion and sorrow, tears silently falling down from his eyes.

Curiously, both Caesar and Koba focused their attention on Bad Ape who had just revealed something quite personal to him. There they both could see Bad Ape reaching into the blanket that he was wrapped in and pulled out the stuffed toy crocodile from earlier, holding it close to his chest, cradling it to his body with tender hands. Watching Bad Ape hold onto the stuff toy, neither Caesar nor Koba needed to ask what had become of the child; the solitary chimpanzee had already revealed the fate of his fellow apes, many a years ago.

Humans had killed them… even his child.

The longer Koba stared at Bad Ape the more he could see that the little chimp's old memories that were long buried, haunted him still. A look that Koba himself was quite familiar with. Seeing Bad Ape, wrapped in his blanket, looking so vulnerable and exposed. Koba now had a new view of the little chimp and he now understood why Bad Ape acted the way he did. Regretting on how he had treated and hurt Bad Ape earlier.

"You think… you will find him… at human zoo? With soldier?" Bad Ape continued after he had silently collected himself.

Caesar turned his gaze on Bad Ape for a long while and mulled the thought over within his head. Would the Colonel be there? Was what Rex told them a lie? There really was no way of knowing.

"I don't know," Caesar answered. "Maybe."

A look of determination overcame Bad Ape's features as he too seemed to be mulling over something within his mind.

"Then… maybe I take you," he finally spoke in a hushed voice.

Hearing Bad Ape's resolve, Koba finally rounded his head silently back around and stared outside at the falling snow. His heart ached after hearing the two chimpanzees and they now both had something in common with each other. A mutual understanding and now Bad Ape has agreed to lead them to where the Border Facility was. Letting his gaze look up at the sky, Koba's eyelids slowly closed as sleep finally came for him.

…

Rubbing his temples, Nicholas glared tiredly at the closed pot of water in front of him, waiting for it to cool down. It's been a day and he and Maxwell were taking turns in keeping watch of their new charge. At this, Nick thought it'd be best that he make a saline compound for the their injured charge. Honestly, he should have gotten to doing that first, but with everything that was going on, it had just simply slipped his mind.

"What you got there?" Maxwell asked as he walked on over from behind and eyed the boiling pot of water.

"Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I'm good," Max answered.

There was a drawn out silence between the two men before Max cleared his throat and tilted his head at the pot again.

"Just some saline I'm making," Nick responded, causing the other man to frown.

"And what is that used for?"

"It's for an iv drip. You know… the bags of water that they hang by a patient's bedside."

"Right..."

There was another long drawn out silence between the two before Nicholas heaved out another sigh and turned fully to face Maxwell.

"So… what do you want to know about me first?" Nick asked.

Max turned to look at the medic and hummed to himself as he crossed his arms and leaned onto a wall.

"Well… piecing everything slowly together. I figured you were not exactly from where you say you were, when you first showed up," Max said aloud. "Are you… from here?"

Nick took in a deep breath and turned his head slowly away from Max, eyeing the boiling pot of saline.

"Yes, my home is… was actually here. In the heart of San Francisco, where we thought that the last remaining humans were still alive. For nearly twelve years I lived here, with the community of what I had thought was the last humans on earth… glad to know that I was wrong though."

At that Nick could see a thoughtful look upon his companion for a moment before Max shook his head slightly.

"Why didn't you say anything, Nick? Weren't we buddies for nearly two years?"

At that, Nicholas lowered his head and stared at the ground in front of him.

"Would you still have trusted me if I had told you?"

"..."

"You remember clearly what they did to those people who came from San Francisco, right? They were known as the crazies and were quickly put down, to not spread panic. To keep the people safe they said. You really think I would have let you or the other soldiers know about Helena and I after that?"

At this, Max shamefully turned away as well, while tightening his jaw a bit at the mere mention of what had happened to the other people from San Francisco, prior to their meeting.

"I'm really sorry I didn't tell you, Max. I really am. But you've heard and seen to what happened to those people before. Stories about people in San Francisco fighting against the terror of apes who overtook the city. Tales of the plague coming back to wipe out the rest of humanity in the form of said apes and the soldiers doing their best to fend them off. Do you think I would risk that? That anyone else would allow me, my wife and unborn child to live, after hearing that we too were from San Francisco and were on the apes side?"

Max glanced slightly at Nick and could see the turmoil within the other man's eyes.

"I'm sure as hell know that I am not going to say anything while I'm surrounded by folk who seek to eradicate these apes and our lives for this so called peace. A nuisance and disease these apes supposedly are. They… they don't know a damn thing about these apes! Hell… maybe I don't know a damn thing too… but I do know one thing," Nick continued and stared Maxwell straight in the eyes. "These apes saved Helena and I. The ones that wanted peace at least. They saved the other survivors too, leading us all out of the city, safely and wants nothing more of this war, more than we do. All they wanted, was peace and yet we still perpetuate war."

Max heaved out a deep sigh and glanced out of one of the broken window, staring out at one spot in the city that looked like it was blown to bits, a long time ago. Rounding back to Nick, Max could see the other man with his head lowered, staring at the ground again.

"Look. I know I've kept secrets from you but you have to understand. I did it so that Helena and I could survive. To keep the apes safe… for whatever my words are worth. If… if you're going to do something. Then I ask… please leave Helena and my kid out of this. The apes too, especially that other-"

Max then walked on over and stopped right in front of Nick, causing the other man to look up at him at the unexpected action.

"What do you think I was going to do?" Max asked his eyes narrowing, surprising Nick for a moment. "Did you think was going to turn you in? Or shoot you and that ape in the other room?"

"No… I-I…"

"I don't care about that shit, Nick! I just wanted you to trust me enough to let me know what was going on," Max cut the medic off. "Didn't I just say that we were buddies? For almost two years, Nick. I could care less of why and what you did to protect you and your family. And I could care less about the apes too. But how am I supposed to help you when you don't let me know what is going on?"

"Max?"

"You think I like what they did to the people from San Fran? No, I don't. I didn't understand it nor did many of the other guys," Max answered. "Of course everyone was scared of the Simian Flu. That was what caused all of this," he continued as he waved a hand around. "But if anyone had an ounce of intelligence within them. Then they would know that it was not the apes who are to blame, but us humans instead."

Hearing these words coming out of Max, to say the least, shocked Nick quite a bit and intrigued him. Was he so caught up in all the fears of the world that he had failed to recognize the other man's thoughts in all of this?

"Y-you don't blame the apes for all of this?" Nick asked hesitantly.

Maxed heaved out a deep breath and stared Nick in the eyes.

"I did."

"What… what happened?"

"Lets just say my uncle was a good man… a kind man who saw more than what others could see and after he was taken from me… well. Life has a way of changing your perspective on things," Max answered slowly.

"I'm sorry, Max."

Max simply held up a hand to stop Nick.

"It's whatever. I just want us to both understand that were standing together on equal grounds in this. No secrets and no lies. We're brothers in this world and have only each other to rely on. We gotta stick together."

Nick blinked once and slowly lowered his gaze, huffing silently and nodding in agreement.

"You're right, Max. Thank-"

Before Nick could finish what he was saying, there was a loud scream and the sounds of crashing in the other room. Both men stood up quickly and glanced at one another before rushing off towards the other room.

…

Along with Rocket, Luca help guided the horses toward the front of the ski lodge that they had rested in. In the morning air the sun had since risen and the snow had finally abated. With that in mind, Caesar was very much anxious to get off to an early start on the journey again. Luca himself was not entirely sure what had prompted Bad Ape's change of heart, but he wasn't going to start asking questions as to why. He just hoped that they were all doing the right thing chasing after the Colonel. He understood why Caesar was hunting the Colonel, and he blamed himself for not seeing the danger posed by Rex's cowardice and betrayal. However, he still worried for the apes that they had all left behind. Would As and the others be able to lead the apes to safety on their own? Without their leader to guide them? He just hopes that nothing of ill will befalls the apes while they are away. Not only was he worried about that but he also was hesitant of the toxicity of, or relations between both Caesar and Koba as well. Even if Koba was half of the problem that caused all of this, Caesar, from the looks of it, still blamed the scarred bonobo for everything. Even when Koba was already trying so hard to amend for his past deeds that was not entirely his fault. At least, Luca and the others knew well that it was not entirely Koba's own doing.

While still caught up within his thoughts, Luca then noticed the human girl emerging from the ski lodge resort and made her way out into the open area. The small child had let out a series of small giggles as she twirled about in the snow with her arms raised. Watching the small child, Luca was reminded of the little ones and seeing how often they would play joyfully with one another, not a worry in the world in the circumstances that befell all of them. Unbeknownst to Luca though was the smile that was slowly forming upon his lips as he watched the little human girl play in the snow.

Rocket had too noticed the child and was curiously glancing back and forth from his friend to the girl curiously. Knowing that they had to move soon, Rocket gave off a small grunt to catch his friend's attention. Hearing a small sound behind him, Luca rounded himself toward Rocket who was staring back up at the silverback curiously.

" _I'll… watch over the horses here,_ " Rocket gestured as he took the reins from the gorilla.

Luca grunted in thanks and decided to move away, toward the human girl. The child had since stopped spinning and was staring up at the bright pink flowers of a tree that had grown up through the snow of the icy mountain. The rosy blossoms provided the only trace of color in the stark white landscape, so it was perhaps no surprise that the human girl was captivated by the bright pink flowers, which were out of reach of her small arms as she stared up at them.

But of course, they were not beyond Luca's reach as he strode up to the human girl and panted aloud, catching her attention. The girl turned around quickly and gasped in worry as she sighted Luca's big frame. The two stared at one another for a few heartbeats before Luca himself reached upwards and plucked a single twig of pink flowers off of the tree. Looking down at the girl, Luca then lowered his arm and gently slipped the flowers behind one of her ears. His reward for this notion was a incandescent smile which radiated from the human girl as she reached upward to touch at the flower by her ear and looked up at him. Luca smiled kindly and offered a few soft pants.

The moment between the two was cut quite short when Luca heard the approaching footsteps of the others behind him. The silverback hastily straightened and assumed a more imposing posture as Caesar and Maurice exited from the lodge. Slightly embarrassed by his moment of sentiment, Luca hoped that Caesar had not seen him toying with the flowers and quickly marched pass the ape leader. Theirs was a serious mission after all, dealing with matters of life and death and justice. It would not do for him to look weak or softhearted at a time like this. However, Luca did steal a glance back and was met with a soft beaming smile of the human child, who watched him go. That in itself was enough for Luca to offer a smile back before making his way on over toward the horses.

Luca noticed that Koba was the third to emerge from the lodge and was already making his way on over to both him and Rocket. Watching the scarred bonobo climb onto his own horse, Luca had turned back toward Caesar and Maurice, wondering if they were ready to resume their quest. Assuming that their new guide had not changed his mind again, which seemed likely. Luca wondered briefly to himself if the sad, silly little chimp had given them the slip, but then the said ape suddenly emerged from the ski lodge and joined them.

Bad Ape was dressed for the trip, in a manner of speaking. Ill-fitting snow boots covered his feet, a blue vest covering most of his torso, while a striped wool cap of sorts rested on his balding head.

Luca himself resisted the urge to laugh while his companions, Caesar included, stared blankly at Bad Ape, who was clearly unaware of how ridiculous he appeared. Giving a thumbs up to them all Bad Ape then slowly approached the horses.

" _He looks absolutely ridiculous,_ " Rocket commented, while Koba merely grunted and frowned on top of his own horse.

The smaller chimp looked speculatively from horse to horse, wondering who he was to partner up with. He had glanced up at Koba whom the scarred bonobo bared his fangs in return. Getting the idea that the bonobo did not want to ride with him, Bad Ape continued forward.

Thinking quickly, Luca grunted and pointed at Rocket and his own horse, whom the nearly chimpanzee had not mounted yet. Beaming at Luca's direction, Bad Ape made for the horse before the bulkier chimpanzee could protest. Seeing Bad Ape already clumsily scrambling up onto his steed, Rocket huffed and shot Luca a dirty look, appearing utterly crestfallen.

"Friend?" Bad Ape could be heard as he stretched an arm out toward Rocket who groaned and took it, hefting himself onto the horse as well.

That had been a close call!

…

Huffing and puffing, Grey lifted the heavy stone over his head and offered it to the ape above him. Looking behind him, he could see that the apes were all severely tired and ready to collapse at any moment. If nothing was done soon, they would all die due to being overworked or not getting any sustenance to re energize them. Yes, apes in general were stronger than the humans but just like the humans they were living creatures too and need to eat and rest. But given on how the human soldiers had been treating them so far, the option of getting food and rest was out of the question.

Curiously though, Grey had then looked down at the chains that bound their limbs together and took a hold of them. Maybe if he and the other apes could figure something, they could release themselves from these chains. It might take them a long while, as they were not as well versed with human contraptions but if they all pulled their heads together, then maybe they could figure out something. If he could recall, the humans used a set of small metal sticks to unlock these heavy chains. They would either need to silently pickpocket the human soldiers who had them or they would need to invent some kind of tool to release the locks. The question is… how?

"Finding way. To escape?"

At the sound of the familiar voice, the hairs on Grey's body all rose up and he slowly rounded himself to whomever had spoken up. As Grey turned fully to see who he thought he had heard, his eyes widened in slight horror when he saw a tall looming figure, decked in rusted colored fur. Complimenting the red fur was none other than those familiar acid green colored eyes that glared right back at his own dark ones.

"Red?" Grey breathed.

"Grey…" Red responded as he looked the older chimpanzee once over. "You. Still live," Red asked pointing at the chimp's abdomen, noticing the old wounds that had since healed.

At this, Grey bared his fangs at the gorilla.

"Thought. You died," Grey hissed.

Red frowned and approached the brown haired chimpanzee with a look of indifference on his features.

"How apes. Treat you. After they know. You traitor?" Red asked.

Grey blinked up at Red but set his features into a stern glare.

" _Apes treat me better than they would an actual traitor,_ " the brown haired chimpanzee gestured back with his fangs slightly showing.

Suddenly Grey felt a large hand taking over half of his face and slamming him roughly into the ground beneath him. The world spun around him for a moment but Grey reached up and tried to pry Red's heavy hand off of his face as it was crushing his skull into the frozen earth.

"We. Could have been. Safe," Red hissed back. "Could. Have protected. Apes."

"Your way. Wrong," Grey grunted back.

At this, Red applied more pressure, causing the chimpanzee beneath him to cry out in agony.

"Hey! What's going on there?!"

Red glanced up and removed himself from Grey, who quickly brought his hands up to hold his head.

"Ape. Not working," Red responded to one of the soldiers.

"Well, deal with it then, Donkey!" the soldier shouted back.

At this, Red glanced back down at Grey who was slowly rising from where he was struck down.

"Is that. What Red. Is. Now?" Grey spat out. "Slave. To humans?

At this, Red bared his ivory fangs at the brown chimpanzee who seemed to only sneer in return.

" _Red is no longer an ape but a human's pet,_ " Grey goaded. "Less. Than ape-"

Before Grey could finish, Red had pulled his arm back and punched the chimpanzee right in the snout, causing the brown haired simian to collapse into a heap on the ground, unconscious. Growling, Red reached down and unlocked Grey's bindings and took a hold of the ape's leg before dragging the unconscious chimp behind him. As he dragged Grey's body a loud series of cries had caught Red's attention, causing him to glance up to see Maple trying to make her way on over towards both him and her father but was held back by the others.

Red remembered the brown haired female greatly. She was the one who had etched bite marks right into his arm that day when he was about to kill Grey. Unconsciously, he touched at the scar that was hidden underneath his red fur as he glared at the angry female. Huffing through his nostrils, with fog rising up into the air in front of him, Red kept his eyes upon the raging younger female as she struggled in the arms of the other apes who prevented her from charging at him. After a few more moments Red turned away from Maple's futile struggles and continued onward, dragging Grey's limp body behind him in the snow.

As Red continued forward, one thing kept on sticking out within his mind as he dragged Grey along through the frigid ground. It was something that the chimpanzee had said to him a long time ago…

 _From here on out. There is no turning back for us._

Indeed there was not turning back for either of them. Grey had made his choice and Red had made his. From here on out, there was truly no turning back for them.


	59. Chapter 59

The snow crunched beneath the hooves of the horses as the party made their way through the wintry woods, leaving the desolate ski lodge behind. Maurice had been occupying himself with taking point of the area before them, looking for any signs that would lead them to the Colonel, with Bad Ape leading them by pointing out landmarks and directions. Sitting behind him was of course the little human girl, who buried herself into his long shaggy orange fur, for warmth and comfort. As they rode on, eventually they came through a trail within the woods and Maurice had decided to ride up with Caesar. He then felt movement behind him and Maurice turned to see what was the matter and saw that the girl was looking up at the ape leader, who was drinking from a makeshift container, fashioned out of a gourd.

Noticing that the girl was staring at him, Caesar had turned to curiously look at her too. Ever the teacher, Maurice saw an opportunity to teach the child their form of sign language. Grunting softly to get her attention, Maurice pointed at Caesar, then made the appropriate sign by sliding a finger along and down his neck:

 _Thirsty._

He then repeated the gesture so that he could be seen clearly by the little human girl.

 _Thirsty._

The child stared at him blankly, but Maurice did not give up. Experience had taught him that some children needed more time than others or instructions when learning new things. Again he demonstrated how to sign the the word to the child, while noticing that Caesar was looking on with slight interest. The apes' brooding leader appeared intrigued despite his recent sorrows. The apes' leader's expression softened somewhat, for perhaps the first time since the tragedy back at the fortress.

Concerned about Caesar's state of mind, Maurice chose to take this as a good omen, even as he worried about the girl's seeming inability to communicate. Granted, he had never tried to teach a human the ape's version of sign language before, but, coupled with her apparent muteness, he had to wonder if there was something truly wrong with her...

"What he doing?" Bad Ape asked in a hushed voice as he watched the shaggy ape making gestures to the little girl.

"Teaching," Koba spoke up from off to the side, causing Bad Ape to look in his direction. "Teaching her how to sign…"

"Teach," Bad Ape repeated as he turned his big green eyes back to Maurice and slowly mimicked the gesture as well, a smile growing upon his lips. "Teach."

Eventually the small girl had turned away from Maurice and stared back at Caesar. She then reached upwards with her fingers and drew them down her throat, repeating the older ape's gestures.

 _Thirsty._

Releasing a small huff, Maurice was glad that the child was at least able to mimic him, a smile upon his lips as he turned back to look at his dear friend. Caesar, to say the least, was quite amused by this as well and offered Maurice a quick glance before he offered the gourd to the child, who took it and immediately began to drink from it. As Caesar made eye contact again, the ape leader gave a silent nod, to which Maurice returned in thanks.

Seeing this, Bad Ape's smile only grew while Koba frowned at the sight.

…

Breathing heavily, Winter continued to pass the stone along, down the line to the other ape beside him. Just like the days before, they were all made to work by carrying heavy stones to some wall that the humans were building and the apes were used as the labor force. As he had passed the stone along, Winter hissed as he pulled his hand back and looked down at them.

As he was looking down at his fingers, seeing the scratches that had formed over the calloused skin, Winter's vision started to go blurry and to his surprise he suddenly felt warmth on his cheeks as he felt tears rolling down the sides of his face. He was reminded of comforting nights of when both Glade and he would spend their time together eating, and simply laying down in their secluded nest within the hidden fortress, away from the prying eyes of others. He could recall the smell of huckleberry from the bonobo, as it was one of the older ape's favorite things to eat. Even during this time of war, there could be delightful things within this, even if they were slight.

Feeling a hand place itself upon his shoulder, Winter snapped out of his thoughts and slowly glanced down to see who it was. To his surprise, Winter met the face of one of the elder apes, a orangutan named Percy who smiled up warmly at him.

" _I know and understand what you are thinking, my dear Winter,_ " Percy gestured slowly. " _We all miss him too. He was an ape who loved and accepted all others. An example that many should strive for._ "

With a sniff, Winter wiped at his snout with his arm and furrowed his brows.

" _Well… his example is what got him killed,_ " Winter gestured back sternly with a angry frown.

At this, Percy withdrew his hand and gave Winter a solemn look. At this, Winter huffed out and shook his head.

" _I'm sorry. I'm just…_ " Winter started but paused his hands, unable to express what he was even feeling at this time.

He felt so many emotions right now. Anger being his main focus right now as he was angry that Glade had left him, and the one that caused this was none other than Caesar, who did not adhere his warnings. However, deep down he felt sadness as well. The empty pit of loss of what was taken from him, never to be filled or healed ever again. That was a pain that could never be mended.

" _I do not know if I can keep on going like this,_ " Winter confessed.

" _Do not give up Winter,_ " Percy signed this time, catching the younger gorilla's attention. " _We know that Glade is gone and no ape will ever replace him. However, he died because he loved you. Sacrificed his life so that you can live. Do not abandon this second chance that he has given you._ "

Winter however, was unconvinced of this.

" _And what else is there to live for?_ " Winter asked.

" _There are others who need you as well,_ " Percy gestured as he slowly looked off in the distance.

Confused, Winter followed the older orangutan's gaze and saw that they were both now watching Coral within the distance. Luckily for the heavily pregnant female, she was given a smaller minimal task that didn't require such strenuous effort to complete. Watching Coral clear away some of the small rocks to make room for the other apes to have access to the bigger boulders, the female had momentarily stopped as she turned and met Winter's eyes. It was as if the world was moving slowly between the two gorillas, that was until one of the human soldiers shouted and Coral nodded quickly before continuing to clear the way.

Coral however, had watched the human go before she glanced back in Winter's direction and offered him the most tender of smiles. At this, Winter couldn't help himself as he offered a small smile in return as well, before glancing back down at Percy. The older orangutan beamed warmly at Winter and gave the younger gorilla a few pats on the back.

" _Come, Winter. We must continue onward if we are to survive,_ " Percy gestured as he accepted another hefty boulder and passed it along.

With a silent nod, Winter followed the older orangutan and continued on as well. Percy was right, Glade did sacrifice his life so that Winter himself could live. If he were to die now, he would be disappointing Glade in what he did for him. So he's going to move forward until tomorrow and do his best to come out of this, alive.

…

Sunlight filtered through the trees marking the end of the woods. The apes had been traveling for hours through the dense, snowbound wilderness, having left anything resembling a trail early on. As they all rode on, Bad Ape fidgeted restlessly on Rocket's horse, growing visibly more anxious by the moment as they continued on the path. This of course, only alerted Caesar and the others that they must be drawing near to their destination.

Watching Bad Ape fidget on the spot Koba couldn't help but remember when the scrawny chimpanzee was about to leave with them. Back at the ski lodge, while they were all preparing to leave, Koba had watched both Maurice and Caesar venture out of the building to meet up with the others. He of course, was the third to leave but had stopped momentarily and had turned to see Bad Ape standing by the empty fireplace, his back turned towards him. Koba couldn't see what exactly Bad Ape was doing as the smaller chimp seemed to be fiddling with something within his hands.

Just as Koba was about to leave, Bad Ape had then moved, approaching the mound of hoarded things that the chimpanzee had called home and gently reached out, placing the stuff toy crocodile upon the pile. At this, Koba simply stared within the quiet as Bad Ape's shoulders lowered, giving the smaller chimp a somber air about him. It was then Koba realized that maybe, with Bad Ape going with them, he is finally leaving everything that he had ever loved and cherished… behind.

Koba had thought about going on over to Bad Ape and apologized on how he had treated the chimp yesterday. However, it felt as if this was not the time to do so. Instead, Koba rounded himself and silently left Bad Ape alone with his memories and joined up with the others, outside.

Drawing his thoughts away from that memory, Koba turned to look at both Rocket and Bad Ape again, seeing the smaller of the two fidgeting on top of the bulkier chimp's horse, growing visibly more anxious by the moment. Clearly annoyed by all the squirming, Rocket growled and turned around to glare at Bad Ape, who jumped at the sudden action and shrunk away slightly from the bigger simian.

"Sorry, friend. Sorry," Bad Ape apologized repeatedly.

Heaving out a long drawn out sigh, Rocket rounded his head forward again and simply glared daggers at Luca whom was chuckling amusingly at him. Koba on the other hand, merely huffed at the poor expense of Rocket and rode silently on.

" _I'll make you pay for this. Wait and see,_ " Rocket signed unamused at Luca to which it only fed the silverback's amusement more and confusing Bad Ape.

Eventually the group came upon an enormous canyon that laid before them. Steep, snow-covered cliffs descended in rocky shelves toward the vast unseen expanse at the bottom of the gorge. The peak of a prison-style warden's tower rose from the depths, confirming that they had indeed reached this human zoo Bad Ape so dreaded.

Pulling out the binoculars, Caesar looked more closely at this human zoo. There, he could make out just the silhouetted figures far below, barely visible along the edge of the lower gorge from his vantage point. Even with the binoculars, he could barely make them out, or what they were doing.

"Luca, come. Let's go closer," Caesar spoke up as he lowered the binoculars and nodded at Rocket, then looked back at the others. "Stay here. Keep them safe."

Just as both Caesar and Luca were leaving, Koba took in a deep breath and followed suit, after the two. Noticing this, Caesar spun around quickly and bared his fangs at the scarred bonobo.

"You stay here too!" Caesar growled, causing Koba to stop in his tracks.

There was a tense silence within the air and Koba cleared his throat.

"Caesar… I can help," Koba started.

At this, Caesar's eyes narrowed and he tilted his head slightly at Koba.

"You can not help anyone!" Caesar spat in the bonobo's direction. "All you have helped, was start a war and caused the deaths of many apes!"

Visibly hurt and upset by Caesar's words, Koba gritted his teeth, lowered his gaze and balled up his fists. It looked as if the scarred bonobo was going to say something back to the ape leader, but in the end, held his tongue. After a few heartbeats, Caesar narrowed his eyes at the scarred bonobo before rounding on Luca. The ape leader then gestured for the silverback to follow and immediately left the area. Luca followed on after Caesar but gave one last glance back at Koba for a long moment before finally leaving as well.

Once Caesar and Luca had disappeared amongst the thicket, Rocket had walked up to Koba and placed a hand upon the scarred bonobo's shoulder. Koba glanced on over to Rocket's sympathetic face and quickly turned away again.

"I'm okay," Koba said suddenly as he shook Rocket's hand off of his shoulder and walked a few paces away from the others.

Feeling helpless as he watched Koba go, Rocket stood there for a moment before deciding to make his way back toward the others.

" _I worry what will happen to Koba if Caesar keeps treating him like this,_ " Maurice signed sadly. " _Apes should not be be doing this to each other. Caesar should know this._ "

" _Caesar just lost his family..._ " Rocket tried to defend their friend but was finding it hard to do so.

" _Yes, I understand clearly that Caesar had just lost his family, we all do. But taking his anger out on another is not good, Rocket,_ " Maurice answered.

" _But Koba is strong. It will take more than that to break him,_ " Rocket replied.

" _Koba may be strong but there is always a limit to how much one can take, Rocket,_ " Maurice warned. " _No matter how strong an ape is. I fear that if this keeps up, we would lose more than just Caesar too._ "

After hearing Maurice out, Rocket simply lowered his head and nodded in defeat.

" _I understand Maurice. I really do. It's been… hard. On everyone. But you are right. Caesar must stop treating Koba as if everything was his fault,_ " Rocket agreed. " _I will talk to Caesar when he returns with Luca._ "

" _I believe we all need to have a talk with Caesar,_ " Maurice signed. " _I fear that this is something much more than meets the eyes. Something that is more deep within._ "

Hearing someone walk up to the both of them, both Rocket and Maurice glanced at Bad Ape who had a look of concern on his fate.

"Friends. Friends. Why are friends angry with each other?" Bad Ape asked worriedly as he glanced at the spot where Caesar was previously at, before turning to look at both Rocket and Maurice once more.

At this, Rocket merely heaved out a deep sigh and shook his head slowly, while Maurice offered Bad Ape a sad smile.

...

Caesar and Luca furtively exited the safety of the snowy woods. Keeping low, they slowly made their way down the slope toward the jutting granite shelf. While they were traversing down the mountainside, a grunt from Luca caused Caesar to stop momentarily, causing him to turn back to the gorilla.

"Luca? What's wrong?" Caesar asked quickly.

" _We need to talk, Caesar,_ " Luca signed.

This was a surprise to Caesar as Luca, much like Rocket, was an ape of not many words. Curious as to what the silverback had to say, Caesar tilted his head curiously at Luca.

"What do we need to talk about?" Caesar asked.

" _It's about Koba,_ " Luca gestured back.

At this, Caesar's golden green eyes widen for a moment before narrowing into cold slits.

"What about Koba?" Caesar spat out the bonobo's name as he turned away and continued down the slope.

As Caesar found his footing, Luca landed down right next to him and rose up slowly to look down at him.

" _We need to talk about what you said back there and your treatment of him?_ " Luca signed.

At this, Caesar's brows narrowed at Luca, with the gorilla simply staring back with a unreadable expression. Growling, Caesar half turned away from the silverback.

"There is no discussion here for that ape, Luca," Caesar said lowly.

As Caesar was just about to climb down another slope, a rough hand took him by the shoulder and spun him around, surprising him.

" _No, we need to talk about this now!_ " Luca demanded.

Caesar blinked in surprise up at Luca. While he stood there though, Caesar narrowed his eyes but made no indication of leaving.

" _The way that you have been treating Koba throughout this journey. Belittling him. Making him feel as if he were less. Making him feel as if he was the cause of everything. It is wrong, Caesar,_ " Luca explained.

"Because he is the cause of everything!" Caesar snapped angrily, causing Luca to lean back slightly. "Koba is the one that caused the apes to go to war with the humans! I told him that his hatred of humans will cause many apes to die. But he did not listen? No! Instead he gave into his anger and doomed us all! I treated him like a brother and he repays me by killing my family!" Caesar finished with unshed tears.

There was a long quiet between the two apes, with only the sounds of Caesar's heavy breathing filling the air.

"Do. You. Really think. That?" Luca asked simply in a deep gruff voice, causing Caesar to look up at Luca confusingly.

A somber expression enveloped Luca's features but he continued nonetheless.

" _Even if Koba was part of the cause of why this war started, do you still believe that it was entirely his fault, Caesar? Humans… humans fear apes. Even before the great awakening. You know this as well as I do. And I may not be as smart as you or the other apes, but I know… that you know. That war would always be between apes and humans. As long as humans and apes still fear each other,_ " Luca explained.

At this, Caesar paused and gave Luca's words some thought.

" _You had once told me… that you had thought that apes were better than humans,_ " Luca had signed. " _Yet, we have apes who turn on each other as well. Use them for their own gain. Cause wars between humans and apes. Apes like Pope._ "

At the mention of he deceased chimp's name, Caesar was taken aback, not expecting Pope to be mention ever again.

" _Pope may not be around anymore, but he was very much the cause of all of this, Caesar. Even you had said so yourself. Pope, the one who pulled the strings. The one who still haunts us apes with his actions,_ " Luca continued explaining. " _The Colonel… he was the one that took away Cornelia and Blue Eyes that night. Those actions were the cause of Pope's. Not Koba's._ "

"Stop," Caesar warned as Luca was treading on something still quite raw.

" _Koba treated Cornelia like a sister and Blue Eyes like his own son. You have seen this in the many winters that he has lived with us. You saw just how hurt Koba was as well when he saw their-_ "

"I said stop, Luca!" Caesar bellowed angrily.

At this Luca halted his hands from signing but he met Caesar's intense gaze as the ape leader breathed deeply from where he stood.

" _Are you truly mad at Koba?_ " Luca asked curiously.

At this question, there was a long drawn out pause with nothing but the silence around the two apes.

" _Remember, Caesar,_ " Luca started, " _Apes together strong._ "

At Luca's words, Caesar huffed and glared down at the side.

"We are wasting time," Caesar said lowly, after a while, as he fully turned away from the silverback and climbed down the slope.

Luca breathed deeply as he watched Caesar descend the mountainside. He gave a quick glance up back the mountain, to where the others were. He had hoped that maybe he would be able to talk some sense into Caesar. He knew what he had told Caesar was harsh, but he needed the ape leader to see sense again. Maybe… just maybe he had gotten through to Caesar, but only time will tell. If not, he will have to try again. With that in mind, Luca followed after Caesar and descended the slope as well.

…

" _Stay here son. Protect your mother and brother!_ " Caesar had signed.

Grasping the serious situation that they were in, Blue Eyes immediately became alert at his father's hand signs. Watching his father go, the prince quickly woke up his mother and little brother, gesturing to them about the danger that they were in.

" _What is wrong, son? Where is your father?_ " Cornelia asked quickly as she held Cornelius close to her.

" _Danger Mother!_ " Blue Eyes warned as he continued to look around himself. " _Father went off to find the others._ "

Glancing around in the den that they were in, Blue Eyes mentally kicked himself as he could not locate either of his weapons within close vicinity. Luckily, he had found one of his spears and took a hold of it.

" _Mother, we need to find a safer place. Do you know-_ "

As Blue Eyes was signing to his mother and keeping his gaze elsewhere he was suddenly jolted when he heard the sound of loud gunfire within the cave. Ducking his head, Blue Eyes perked back up from within the nest to see where their attacker was. Keeping his breathing steady, Blue Eyes slowly reached out and took his mother's hand.

"Mother, we need to-"

A green light had suddenly danced across his vision, causing Blue Eyes to look upwards from where he was. He saw the dark silhouette of a figure pointing something at him and the bright light that followed after. The last thing he heard was the shrilling cry of his mother as darkness engulfed him.

With a sudden jolt, Blue Eyes' eyelids shot open and he quickly sat up, nearly expelling his stomach's contents as a wave of nausea slammed into him like a tidal wave. Holding onto the railing by his sides tightly, Blue Eyes breathed deeply as he steadied himself and took back his bearing. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Blue Eyes finally glanced upward and saw that he was met with an unfamiliar setting.

Stark dilapidated walls that were once painted white, now a yellow cream color, gave the area that he was in a very clear setting. Around his vicinity, Blue Eyes could make out several unused beddings and many other things that were toppled over or stacked together in the corner. Looking down at himself, he then saw some faded sheets that was draped over the rest of his body, as well as some strange cloths that were wrapped around several parts of his body.

While looking down at himself, Blue Eyes then noticed that something was embedded within his arm, hooking itself into some kind of glass jar that had water in it, hanging by his side. Looking up at the thing, Blue Eyes stared at it curiously before he glanced back down at the tube that was stuck into his arm. Taking a hold of the tube, Blue Eyes yanked the thing out of him and tossed it aside. As he moved, Blue Eyes couldn't help but groan in pain as his body ached all over, most of it coming from his head and chest area. Reaching upwards, Blue Eyes hissed in pain as he touched his head, feeling the strange cloth upon it.

Lowering his arm, Blue Eyes looked around himself and spotted a mirror in the corner. With a huff, Blue Eyes got out of the strange contraption that he was in and nearly lost his balance as he landed on his feet. After a few seconds, he had let out a relieved breath and made his way on over toward the mirror. As he approached the object, he could see the dust on the surface from the many years of unuse. With a grunt, Blue Eyes then used his hands and wiped away at the thing. As his very own image stared back at him and Blue Eyes was surprised at what he saw.

Instead of seeing his usual self, Blue Eyes instead saw a very damaged and dirty looking chimpanzee staring back at him. Skin much paler than usual, hair in a tangled mess, in need of grooming and what looked like mud and dried blood still caked onto his body. What stood out the most though was the white cloth that wrapped itself around his whole head. Curious as to why that was, Blue Eyes slowly reached out and undid the bindings.

As soon as the cloth hit the floor, Blue Eyes' own eyes were as wide as saucers as he stared at himself in the mirror. With a shaky hand, Blue Eyes hovered it over the large stitched scar that now ran across his shaved head.

How did he? When did he? As Blue Eyes was mentally asking himself these questions of where he was and how such wounds were inflicted upon him he suddenly went still as images of of recent events came rushing back to him. He remembered the nest. A dark silhouette. Intense pain soon after. And finally the cries of his mother as the world faded around him.

Gasping, Blue eyes convulsed on the spot as he held his head with his hands as he started to remember. With remembering of what had happened to him came pain as well. Reaching on over to grab something, Blue Eyes had knocked down one of the strange rolling metal contraptions, knocking it over with a crash in his surprised state. Throwing his head back the scarred chimpanzee had let out a pain filled shrill that echoed all around him. In his agony, Blue Eyes had just slightly heard the distinct sounds of footsteps behind him. With a gasp, he quickly spun around and saw two humans at the entryway of the room, staring at him with shocked expressions.

"Holy shit!" One of them had exclaimed.

Before either of the humans could say anything else, or do anything, Blue Eyes braced himself and ran straight at them. Unprepared by his sudden action, the two humans jumped back at Blue Eyes' charge, and both were barreled into by the injured chimpanzee. Crashing into the hallway the three individuals were all sprawled out on the floor. Blue Eyes was quick to act as he quickly launched himself on top of one of the humans and started to repeatedly strike at them.

Just as Blue Eyes could bring his fists down for a third strike the sound of a gunshot rang through the air and the chimpanzee yelped in pain as his shoulder was nicked. Falling onto the ground with a loud thud, Blue Eyes grimaced in pain as his vision became blurry and he held onto his injured shoulder. Pulling his hand back he could see blood on his fingers.

"Don't move!" the human with the handgun shouted as he stood over his injured friend.

Blue Eyes grimaced but glared up at the human who aimed the firearm at him.

"Nick, you okay?!"

Seizing his opportunity, as the human with the gun had looked away from him, Blue Eyes reached out with his foot and took a hold of the man's ankle. With a hard yank, Blue Eyes manage to pull the soldier's leg right from under him, causing him to fall over backwards. Scrambling onto his feet, Blue Eyes reached out to the dropped handgun and took it as it skittered across the smooth tiled floor. Rounding himself back around, Blue Eyes felt like he was about to spill out his stomach's contents but pushed through the feeling and aimed the weapon down at the human who had shot him before, baring his fangs all the while.

"No, please don't!" a voice called out.

Hearing this, Blue Eyes glared at the other human whom he had attacked before. The other man was slowly getting up and was wiping away at his face, his skin already showing signs of bruising from when Blue Eyes had struck him.

"Please don't. Don't kill him," the man begged. "Please."

Baring his fangs, Blue Eyes glared back down at the surprised soldier who had shot him.

"I don't think he understands!" The man shouted at his companion.

"Wait!" the other man said again and took a step forward, prompting Blue Eyes to now aim the gun in his direction.

The man halted with his hands raised, showing no signs of threat. Blue Eyes however, was becoming exhausted really fast. He needed to do something quickly, lest his own body fails him and he was at the mercy of these two human soldiers.

"Please don't. I-I know you're one of the good apes. Not one to kill," the man continued, piquing Blue Eyes' interest, if just momentarily.

"Don't. Know. Me!" Blue Eyes growled back, causing the other soldier to gawk.

"Holy shit," the other man uttered out quietly, upon hearing Blue Eyes speak.

Blue Eyes immediately aimed the firearm at the other human again when he exclaimed aloud before he directed it back to the other one who still held his hands out in front of him.

"I know you're one of the good ones," the man spoke quietly as he lowered one of his hands.

Watching curiously, Blue Eyes observed as the wounded human had reached down slowly into one of his pockets. At this, Blue Eyes hissed and readied the pistol at the other man. The human however, held out his other hand and slowly shook his head side to side.

"It's okay," the man said reassuringly, in a calming voice. "It's okay."

Slowly pulling his hand back upwards, Blue Eyes could see that the man was taking out what looked like a string and attached to the end of it…

"I believe. This belongs to you," the pale blue eyed human said slowly.

Blue Eyes gawked when he saw the blue stone necklace that Lake had given him.

Reaching up slowly, Blue Eyes felt around his neck and noticed that the gift that he had received from his dearly beloved was not there and he growled at the human for taking something so precious away from him. Lunging forward, Blue Eyes snatched the item out of the human's outstretched hand and held it close to his chest, baring his fangs still. Taking a second to look away, Blue Eye glanced down at his gift and saw that the stone embedded within it was now cracked, confusing him. How was it damaged? In all the times that he had kept it, it never had broken on him.

Unless…

As Blue Eyes thought more on it, pain started to radiate from his head and chest area again. Visions of that night came rushing back to him, filling his mind with what had happened. A beam of green light, the sound of gunfire, pain that lanced through his chest and head, then darkness.

The handgun clattered onto the ground beneath Blue Eyes' feet as he dropped onto his knees and held his head within his hands. His shoulders rising and falling with each heave of breath he was taking, Blue Eyes shut his eyes tightly as the scenario kept on playing over and over again within his mind, drowning out everything else around him. Hissing through gritted teeth, Blue Eyes tried to bear the pain but there was a point where it was just too much, even for him and he couldn't help but cry out in pain.

Before Blue Eyes knew it, he had fallen onto the ground as the world spun around him, unable to make out the blurry objects that spun in front of him. There was one thing he noticed as his vision started to fade away. He could make out the shapes of two silhouettes making their way over him, accompanied with strange voices as it he were listening through several walls. However, everything that had been going on around him was too much to take in. Soon enough, Blue Eyes closed his eyes and his consciousness was taken away, by sleep's embrace.

…

Joining Koba's side, Rocket huffed quietly as he stood there. The bonobo on the other hand, didn't seem to notice his companion but instead shrunk further into himself.

" _You have to stop letting Caesar treat you like this?_ " Rocket signed after a long moment.

Koba shook his head side to side slowly.

"You don't understand, Rocket… I… I deserve this," Koba spoke quietly. "What Caesar said is true… Everything that I had done. Had only hurt apes."

There was a deep breath from the nearly hairless chimpanzee who step in front of Koba and rounded to face him.

" _Is that what you truly think?_ " Rocket questioned, causing Koba to blink up at him. "Y _ou were not the main cause of this, Koba. War would have come to us apes eventually. We all know this to be true, no matter what we did. The thing is… even if you or Pope did not start this, humans would have come after us anyways. Remember when we had first escaped the humans so long ago? With the giant firestorm that burned down the forest and filled out lungs with pain?_ "

Koba remembered those days well. It was after their escape from the city and their first taste of freedom. Back then, they had all been running for their lives. Day in and day out. It was a tiresome but they had to run, in order to survive. The humans… they had wanted all the apes dead and would have succeeded as well, if they kept on chasing them. But eventually the chasing stopped and the humans had all gone back into the city… for whatever those reasons were, Koba cared not for. He was just happy that he and the other apes were left alone in the forest. Able to enjoy their freedom and new lives.

But then when he saw Rocket sign Pope's name, the hackles on Koba stood on end and a angry scowl formed on his face. Pope… that dreaded chimpanzee that used him. Used and manipulated him like some human would. With that in mind, Koba's fists balled up tightly.

"Doesn't matter anymore… what has been done is done," Koba answered as he turned his head away toward the side.

At this, Rocket huffed as he stared at Koba who seemed to have given up on the subject.

"Remember," Rocket spoke up, catching Koba's attention, if slightly. "I used. To hate. You. Too," Rocket finished.

Upon hearing this, Koba simply met Rocket's fierce stare and could see the sincerity within the bald chimp's eyes. After a moment Koba heaved out a deep breath and nodded slowly, understanding what Rocket was trying to convey.

With a grunt, Rocket smiled and gave Koba a pat on the back before he had walked on over towards the ledge to oversee the area. Watching Rocket from his spot, Koba could see the other ape looking about curiously. Confused, Koba approached his friend.

"What do you see Rocket?" Koba asked quickly.

Rocket blinked once, then twice before he started to turn around.

" _Danger,_ " Rocket signed quickly in response before he bolted from the spot.

Seeing the seriousness in Rocket's face, Koba quickly followed suit. Maurice and the others were about to ask where they were all going but Rocket had seemed to have already informed the older orangutan of what was going on. With that in mind both Koba and Rocket darted down the mountainside slope, hoping to reach Caesar and Luca in time.

…

With the binoculars within his hands, Caesar watched as the figures down below were erecting rows of tall, X-shaped wooden structures along the edge of the cliff, some distance away from the compound. Caesar himself had counted roughly a dozen of the crosses, but could not make out what purpose they served for the human soldiers.

A perimeter defense of some kind? Or scarecrows?

Putting down the binoculars, Caesar was confused by what the humans were doing. Lying right beside him on the ridge that they were on, Luca signed in curiosity, after they had both not talked to each other for the longest of times.

" _What are they doing?_ "

"I don't know," Caesar answered while shaking his head.

Huffing deeply, Luca then pointed down past the crest of the ridge.

" _What's that? A patrol?_ " Luca asked after a moment of fidgeting on the spot.

Narrowing his eyes at where Luca was pointing at, Caesar turned the binoculars down further, just below the ridge, where a pair of horses were tethered. Caesar was curious of the sight.

"I don't see riders," he began.

Just as he finished, a blurry shape suddenly rose into view, obscuring his vision through the binoculars. Everything happened so fast as the human had suddenly lunged towards Caesar with the bayonet at the end of his rifle. Just as Caesar expected to be skewered upon the point of he weapon, Luca had taken a hold of the ape leader's shoulder and yanked him backwards. Rolling haphazardly into the snow, Caesar got back up to just see Luca and the human rolling across the frozen ridge as well. Scrambling to his feet, Caesar was about to rush toward his friend, hoping to assist the silverback, but another soldier suddenly appeared, taking aim right at him.

"Hold it!" the soldier ordered.

Suddenly a large brawny shape came flying in and with a loud whack, the shape had struck the soldier on the head, who crumpled onto the ice and snow. The figure that had came to Caesar's rescue was none other than Rocket himself.

" _We saw them coming!_ " Rocket signed quickly.

Caesar was grateful for his friend's timely appearance, but what about Luca? Off to the corner of Caesar's peripheral, he could see that Koba was with Luca who was assisting the silverback gorilla.

Luca painfully rolled off of the human soldier that he was on top on with Koba's help. Gasping, Luca clutched at the weapon embedded within his gut and yanked it out, dark blood painting the snow beneath him a crimson color. With heavy breaths, Luca glanced up at the others before he fell back down onto the snow.

"We need to get him out of here. Now!" Caesar ordered.

With a nod, Rocket took one of Luca's heavy arms while Caesar took the gorilla's other side. Helping their wounded friend up, both of the chimpanzees made their way back up the snowy mountainside.

Koba on the other hand was looking around him, horrified by the blood that was dripping from the gorilla. As he spotted the human soldiers, his vision became red and he made his way on over to the unconscious men. Reaching down, Koba took a hold of each of the human's head and forcefully twisted them, hearing a squelching sound that came from their broken necks. It was a quick death to say the least, one that these two humans did not deserve at all for what they've done to Luca. However, if they were to get back up, they would alert the human soldiers of their whereabouts and he couldn't have that happening. So, taking safe measures, Koba made sure that they would all be safe.

After he was finished with what he was doing, Koba quickly turned around and gathered the weapons, following quickly after the others, making sure to keep a lookout for any other possible dangers that may come their way.

…

Sheltered in the woods, Maurice waited with Bad Ape and the girl. His worried beady green eyes searched the twilight for their absent friends, concerned for their safety. Dusk had deepen the shadows under the trees since Rocket and Koba had rushed to aid Caesar and Luca, after spotting a human patrol heading their way. Maurice had not hear any gunshots thus far, which was encouraging, but it was also possible that the other apes had been taken prisoner at gunpoint by now as well.

With that, maybe more human soldiers would be coming for the rest of them too.

He was just starting to wonder how long they should wait for the others before investigating. That was until Caesar, Rocket and Luca appeared over the hillside toward them. With what he had saw, Maurice immediately knew that things were not right, with both the chimpanzee's supporting the silverback gorilla. Trailing after the three was Koba, who carried some weapons within his arms, one of the rifles with a lethal looking blade at the end of the barrel.

The two chimps struggled with Luca's weight but persisted nonetheless. Unable to go any further, both Caesar and Rocket had to let Luca down onto the ground, the others already making their way to see what had happened to the silverback.

Caesar knelt beside the dying gorilla, his eyes were dry but filled with emotion as he gazed down on Luca, who smiled weakly up at him, panting through gritted teeth.

" _At least this time… I was able to protect you…_ " Luca signed weakly. " _Don't push others away… Apes… Together… Strong…_ "

Seeing this, Caesar merely shook his head side to side quickly, unable to answer his dying friend.

The little girl, who had been mutely observing the poignant scene, stepped in front of Maurice, surprising the older orangutan, and made her way on over toward the wounded gorilla. The child bravely approached Luca and sat down next to him, unable to hold her own emotions as a gasp had escaped her lips and tears flowed freely from her bright blue eyes. To Caesar and the others, Koba especially who sat at Luca's head, was transfixed by how much the girl was crying for the dying gorilla as she reached out and touched his chin comfortingly.

What had Luca done to touch that tender heart of hers?

Luca, breathing haggardly, gazed up at the human child who cried for him and gave her an apologetic look. The little girl had then reached up and took the flowery twig from behind her ear… and gently tucked it behind his. A faint smile briefly appeared upon his lips, belying his intimidating features, before the light of life faded from his eyes and with it, his smile as well.

Luca, their great friend and ally, was now dead.

Caesar remained beside the gorilla's lifeless body, staring silently. A complicated mix of rage and guilt could be seen within his golden-green eyes. Rocket and Bad Ape sat there too, their own features a mix with an array of emotions too. Koba on the other hand, was staring down at Luca, his own golden-green and milky white eyes full of indignation, remorse and sorrow. Maurice had gently called the child back to his side and held her close to his body.

After a long moment of silence, Maurice was the first to speak, grunting softly to get Caesar's attention.

" _Caesar,_ " Maurice had signed. " _This must stop… It's not too late to join the other apes…_ " he continued, seeing Caesar's brows furrow in anger.

At this Rocket shook his head quickly.

" _We cannot turn back!_ " the nearly hairless chimpanzee objected. " _Luca gave his life!_ "

" _Please…!_ " Maurice begged.

Looking back down at Luca's face, hatred began to infect Caesar's heart again as his eyes lit up with smoldering flames.

"They must pay…" Caesar said gravely, not noticing Koba's gaze turning towards him.

Upon hearing those vengeful words from Caesar, filled Maurice with despair-and disappointment. He respected Caesar with all of his heart and thought of the chimpanzee as the greatest ape that had ever lived. Maurice owed him everything, including the sharpness of his wits.

But, for the first time, Maurice looked on Caesar and found him wanting. So, he reached out toward Caesar's hand and took a hold of it for a moment before letting go.

" _You are starting to sound like…_ " Maurice began, but couldn't find himself able to sign it.

At this Caesar was curiously waiting for Maurice to finish, but the orangutan had seemed reluctantly so.

"Like me," Koba suddenly spoke up, causing all heads to turn toward him. "You're acting… and sound like me," he stated.

At this, Caesar turned and glared at Maurice, visibly stung and upset by the accusation and by its source. His expression darkened as he glowered at his oldest friend, who had been staunchly at his side since they had first met in the primate shelter so many years ago. Rocket on the other hand looked on in shock and disbelief, having never seen Caesar and Maurice at odds before. Bad Ape however, just looked confused in all of this.

A tense moment, pregnant with the possibility of violence, ensued before Caesar spoke again. Rage, tightly controlled, simmered in every syllable that left his mouth.

"It was a mistake, bringing you all," Caesar seethed. "This is my fight. I will finish this alone!"

Caesar swept his fierce gaze over the other apes, his gaze landing upon the one sole ape he was compared as. Koba however, stared back at him, his features grim as well but he held Caesar's glare nonetheless. Turning away from the scarred bonobo, Caesar glanced back at the others.

"Go! Now! Join the others," Caesar spat as he rose up and took one of the weapons before taking his leave.

Chittering, Rocket rose up and tried to call Caesar back to them, but the ape leader kept on going. Getting further and further away with each step he took, ignoring their pleading calls to return.

Rising up slowly, Koba stared at Caesar's form that was getting further away from them. Turning his head to look back down at Luca, guilt swept over the bonobo and he apologized dearly for his deceased friend. Adding another name to one of his many sins. Taking a deep breath, he then picked up one of the weapons from the pile as well and followed after Caesar.

"You all stay here!" Koba said aloud. "I'll bring him back!"

With that said, Koba rushed on after Caesar.

* * *

 **So... all of that happened...**

 **Also, I'm so sorry Luca. I'll miss you, big guy.**


	60. Chapter 60

**I believe we're about halfway through War of the Planet of the Apes... Anywho, do enjoy the latest chapter!**

* * *

By the time Caesar had gotten down to the canyon's pass and making his way on over toward the human zoo, night had since already fallen over the land, cloaking his form in the darkness. The moon gave him just enough light to see by as he made his way across the snow-packed ground.

The sounds of someone approaching from behind.

Grunting, Caesar turned around, ready to tell whomever it was, most likely Rocket, to go back or to leave. However, when he had spun around to address said figure, Caesar stopped himself as he saw the familiar figure of a one eyed ape stopping a short distance away from him. With the gentle glow of the moon's light, Caesar could see Koba standing there silently, watching him with that singular golden-green eye of his. After a moment, Caesar's expression changed and he glowered at the scarred bonobo.

"What are you doing here? I thought I said that I was finishing this alone," Caesar said lowly. "Leave!"

Closing his eyes momentarily and taking a deep breath, Koba met Caesar's gaze once more and shook his head slowly.

"No," Koba said simply.

Thinking that he had misheard Koba, Caesar cocked his head and kept his glare upon the scarred bonobo.

"What?" Caesar said quietly.

"I said no!" Koba repeated. "I'm not… I'm not leaving and I'm not letting you get killed."

Upon hearing Koba, Caesar's eyes widen briefly before he quickly glared daggers at the bonobo once more.

"Not letting me get killed?" Caesar questioned as he marched up toward Koba and got right up into the other ape's face. "You! Are not going to let me get killed?! And when is that your choice to make?!" Caesar said to Koba as he shoved the bonobo backwards. "When did you ever care about me or others, Koba? Where was this conviction of yours when you decided to attack the humans? Put the lives of the apes in danger and caused the death of many?" he hissed.

At this Koba kept quiet but held himself firm.

"I-"

"You what?" Caesar cut Koba off. "Did not think this will happen? That your actions would have caused this? All of this?" Caesar accused as he waived an arm around himself. "You never think of your consequences. About what it could do to apes if you were to act on them. But here it is now, Koba. Your perfect and ideal world. Human and Apes at war with each other, just like what you wanted."

Koba blinked and shut his eyes tightly before shaking his head quickly, side to side.

"No Caesar! This is not what I wanted!" Koba said loudly. "I just wanted… I wanted apes to be safe! To be left alone! To be free! You've never been hurt by the humans like I have. All those times I've spent alone, in constant pain. Cut open. Over and over again. Never knowing if I would ever make it out to the next day. That was torture to me. I never wanted an ape to experience what I had. Especially you!"

At this Caesar leaned back a bit, confused.

"After you saved me from the humans. I… I looked up to you. Respected you and did what I could to help and serve you," Koba spoke in a more soft voice.

A mournful look then appeared on Koba' face as he looked Caesar in the eyes.

"I know what I did… what I had caused could never be forgiven. And I regret it every single day... You have every right to hate me, Caesar but I'm trying to make things right… even if you don't forgive me. I… I just wanted you to know that I'm… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Koba apologized earnestly.

After Koba had spoken both he and Caesar stood there for a long while within the middle of the snow. The air was silent around them, only filled with the heavy breathing from the scarred bonobo.

"Pathetic," Caesar said lowly after a long while, causing Koba to freeze up. "Your apology is worthless. We should have left you back in the labs to rot in your own cage," he spat at the other ape.

Cocking his gun, Caesar rounded himself and left the stunned bonobo behind in the snow. Hoping that the traitor ape would leave him be this time and take his useless self back to the others.

Standing there with his head lowered, Koba's wide eyes stared at the snow on the ground by his feet. Did Caesar just say that to him? That he should have been left behind to rot in his cage? When they had first freed him? Of all the things that Caesar had said to him, insulted him, berated him for what he did. Why did this suddenly struck such a strong chord with him?

Wrapping his hands around himself, Koba suddenly lost the strength within his legs as he dropped to his knees. His shoulders started to shake as his body was suddenly wracked with a sobbing fit as his held in emotions started to erupt deep from within his being. Letting the weight of his actions fall upon him again, just as before.

"They were my family too," Koba whispered quietly to himself.

…

Taking a step back from his work, Rocket curiously observed the mound that he had built upon Luca's body. He had spent the better half of the evening burying his dear friend and he slightly lowered his head at the thought of the Gorilla. A large hand then placed itself upon Rocket's shoulder, causing the nearly hairless chimpanzee to turn and meet Maurice's solemn smile.

" _He would have appreciated you for doing this,_ " Maurice signed.

Rocket said nothing to Maurice but nodded slowly in acknowledgement. The longer the both looked down at the grave marker, did the two reminisce about their dear old friend.

" _I was suppose to get back at him… for making that other ape ride with me,_ " Rocket signed after a long moment. " _Now I'll never be able to._ "

At this, Maurice smiled sadly at Rocket and turned to look at the grave marker as well.

" _He was a good, kind and strong friend,_ " Maurice offered to say. " _He is with our other friends and families now. Wherever they are, after passing on from this world onto the next._ "

" _Do you think that there is another place for apes after passing?_ " Rocket had asked unsurely.

Maurice offered a solemn smile.

" _I do not know my dear friend. But I hope there is. For all of us and for the ones that had gone on first,_ " Maurice responded.

The two apes were silent after that, contemplating if there was a thing, such as the afterlife for apes who had passed on.

After a few more minutes, both Rocket and Maurice turned around and were startled to see Bad Ape standing there, looking to be quite distressed. Confused, both Maurice and Rocket glanced at each other before approaching the smaller ape.

"Something. Wrong?" Rocket asked.

"Friends!" Bad Ape spoke up. "Friends not back yet. Sun is going down. They gone too long!"

Hearing this from the smaller chimp, Rocket looked to the skies and gauged where the sun was at, from behind the clouds. He did see that Bad Ape had a point though. It had been a while now since Koba had gone after Caesar and the sky was darkening, foreshadowing nightfall. Huffing and looking back down at the ground, many thoughts crossed Rocket's mind before he glanced back up at both Maurice and Bad Ape, determination set within his emerald eyes.

" _Going after them,_ " Rocket signed quickly

A look of concern crossed Maurice's features.

" _You're going after them?_ " Maurice asked, his face laced with concern.

" _I have to, Maurice. Who knows how much danger they could both be in, if they are not back by now,_ " Rocket signed back.

Maurice took a deep breath and slowly looked around himself, unsure about it all. Rocket had stepped off to the side and picked up one of the weapons to which Bad Ape started to question the bulkier chimp on what he was doing and where he was going.

"Saving. Friends," Rocket responded, turning to meet Bad Ape in the eyes.

"Saving?" Bad Ape repeated slowly. "Friends?"

With a grunt and a nod, Rocket turned his sights in the direction that both Caesar and Koba had walked off to. Just before he took a step forward, Rocket felt a hand upon his shoulder, causing him to turn and see Maurice looking at him.

" _If you are going to go after them. Then we all go as well,_ " Maurice gestured.

" _Maurice, its-_ "

Maurice held up a hand to stop Rocket from signing any further and simply smiled at the bulky chimpanzee.

" _Caesar and Koba are my friends too,_ " Maurice signed with a simple smile to his lips.

Rocket paused momentarily to regard Maurice for a long moment before a small smile appeared on his lips.

" _Let us go and bring them back then,_ " Rocket responded.

Maurice had then gone on over toward the horses and took one of the rucksacks containing the necessary items that they had found along the way. Removing the reigns from the horses, Maurice gently patted the four-legged creatures and set them off into the wild.

Bad Ape watched curiously, wondering why the orangutan had set the creatures free, but did not question it.

Slinging the rucksack over his shoulder, Maurice had then called for the human girl who silently walked up to him. Taking his hand, the shaggy ape offered the girl a reassuring smile before he too walked up to Rocket. The two apes turned to Luca's grave marker once more and bid their dear friend a final goodbye, before setting off in the direction that Caesar and Koba had gone off in.

"Wait. Wait," Bad Ape said aloud in a confused tone as they were all moving away. "All friends go? Oh. Oh no. Oh…"

Bad Ape fidgeted on the spot as he glanced to and fro, from the safety of the woods and then toward the others, unsure of what to choose. Whimpering to himself, Bad Ape skittered back and forth before mustering up the courage and finally followed the others.

…

After a long distance of walking silently by himself, Caesar finally slowed as he approached the X-shaped structures at the edge of the cliff. To him it seemed like whoever were building these strange things earlier had left when the sun had gone down. As he approached the strange shapes his hardened face slowly melted away to that of confusion as he made out figures roped to the crosses.

What is this…?

Confusion turned into horror as he drew near and saw that the pitiful figures were none other than apes, all seemingly deceased as they were bound to the X's by their hands and feet. Aghast, Caesar looked from ape to ape, his mind reeling at the awful spectacle before him. Not even back in the old days, when the apes had been treated like animals by humans, had he seen anything this barbaric or pointlessly sadistic before. He had seen war, and the horrors of war, but… never anything like this.

These humans… they were so much worse than he could have ever imagined.

Caesar staggered around the crucified apes, their imagery still a shock to him and was momentarily distracted by a disturbing murmur coming from the canyon below. His heart pounding within his chest, Caesar turned away from the crosses and rushed to the brink of the ledge, where his anguished eyes saw his worst fears confirm.

Hundreds of apes were crowded into giant outdoor holding pens in the middle of a sprawling prison camp, nestled at the base of the mountains, some several stories below the ledge that Caesar stood upon. The noise that had drawn him was the collective moans and cries and anxious chattering of the imprisoned apes, who, in their numbers could only be his very own apes.

His friends and people.

With that in mind, Caesar lost the strength in his legs and dropped down onto his knees as he could only watch helplessly as his apes were corralled into the giant holding pens by the human soldiers, ruthlessly so.

Hearing movement to his right, Caesar did not need to turn his head to see and know who it was. Koba came into view out of his peripheral and he could hear the scarred bonobo letting out a quiet "no…" as well, while he too faltered on the spot.

Caesar had thought that maybe he had driven the bonobo away with his harsh words, but it too seemed that Koba was much too stubborn to leave him be. He wanted to feel anger at the bonobo, to yell at him, curse at him, anything. But the shock of finding out what laid before him, was too much for even him to direct his anger at the other ape.

But if Caesar were to be honest with himself, he was sort of glad to have another ape there with him. Even if it was Koba...

The exodus, they now both realized. They've been captured. All of them.

Guilt shocked Caesar like the electric cattle prods the ape handlers had used on him back at the primate shelter, so many years ago. He had let his apes go on without him, with Ash to guide them, and now…

Caesar and Koba then stumbled back from the edge of the cliff, both still overwhelmed by what they had seen.

"Caesar, how?" Koba asked in a hushed voice.

"I… I don't know," Caesar breathed out, shaking his head all the while.

There was a gasp of breath from behind the two apes and both rounded to see one of the crucified simian's chest rise and fall, breath fogging into the cold night air. Rushing on over quickly to the other ape, both Caesar and Koba quickly undid the ropes that bound the chimp's arms and legs, gently lowering him down onto the ground as they could.

Taking a good look, both Caesar and Koba recognized the chimp as none other than Spear, one of the valiant young chimpanzee that were in charge of assisting Ash to protect the exodus. Spear barely even resembled the vigorous chimpanzee who had ridden to battle against the human raiders not too long ago. His head sagged forward, chin resting upon his chest. His dark fur had lost its healthy luster, ribs protruded through his flesh, as though he had been starved. Scars adorning his frame and signs of swelling bruises indicated that the younger chimp was severely beaten as well. Spear was haggard and trembling, looking near death to both Caesar and Koba.

With a wheezing breath, Spear glanced up to see who had untied his binding and his eyes suddenly had a sparkle within them as he recognized the face of his worried king. Blinking slowly once, Spear eyes then hovered on over toward Koba and stared at the bonobo for a long while.

"What happened?" Caesar suddenly spoke up, drawing Spear's gaze back toward him.

" _They came out of nowhere..._ " Spear mustered up the strength to sign as he met his king's eyes. " _Attacked us. We thought that they will kill us all. But the Colonel stopped them._ "

At this Caesar and Koba both glanced at each other momentarily as Spear retold his story to them.

" _There is madness behind the Colonels eyes,_ " Spear continued as he took in sharp breaths. " _He said… he said he would use us, before we died! And… and they brought us all here!_ "

At this, Spear starting to cough on the spot and Caesar tried his best to steady the wounded chimpanzee.

"Use you?" Caesar echoed.

" _They've been forcing us to work…_ " Spear signed, suddenly losing the strength to keep his arms up.

"What? What kind of work?" Caesar continued to ask.

As Caesar and Koba thought Spear was going to answer, the younger chimp's eyes fluttered, closing and he started to lean forward.

"Wait. My little son. Is he here?" Caesar asked desperately but Spear was unresponsive.

Both Caesar and Koba glanced at each other, horrified of what they had just learned of what had happened to their ape and what they were being made to do. With a growl, Koba stood back up and made his way quickly on over to the other crucified apes and undid the bindings to help them down, seeing if they were still alive. Caesar on the other hand merely watched the bonobo desperately trying to find any signs of life before he glanced back down at Spear in his arms.

"Spear, try to hold on, please!" Caesar urged the wounded ape. "I will get you out of here! All of you!"

The ape leader peered into Spear's eyes as the chimp opened them back up just barely, looking up at him with such devotion and trust. Guilt crashed down onto Caesar as he stared at Spear. But he promised, even if it killed him. He will do everything within his power to save the apes from the Colonel.

"Stay here," Caesar breathed as he laid Spear's head gently onto the snow. "I'll come back," he promised.

Placing Spear down, Caesar was just about to go and assist Koba in freeing the other apes from their bindings. Just as he got up on one knee, the sounds of footsteps crunched in the snow behind him. Startled, Caesar turned around and the last thing he saw the the butt of a rifle, slamming to his face.

…

Scents in the air - unknown, yet familiar to the likes of him - comes first when he began to rouse from his unconscious state. After that the feeling of his skin, fur and the aches that came with it as well. Finally, eyelids opened to reveal cerulean irises, as colorful as the deep blue sea, gave sight to their owners-Blue Eyes.

Looking around groggily, Blue Eyes could see that the world had turned dark due to the night. However, instead of being casted in darkness, there were the soft glow of the artificial lights around him, casting him in their warmth. With a huff, Blue Eyes had tried to get up from his spot but then found that his limbs were bound in some strange leather straps. Not only did these wrap around his arms but his torso and legs as well. Breathing heavily, Blue Eyes started to panic and struggle within his bindings.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

At the voice, Blue Eyes' head snapped up to see the human who had shot him earlier, sitting on a stool just on the other side of the bed he was on.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you keep on doing that," the man continued.

"Let me go!" Blue Eyes growled through gritted teeth.

"Can't do that," the man responded with a tired sigh as he leaned back in his chair. "Doctor's orders."

At this Blue Eyes bared his fangs at the man again and began to renew his struggling.

"Hey!" the man yelled out this time as he stood back up. "I said calm down. You're going to hurt yourself."

"Release me!" Blue Eyes growled back.

"Oh my G-. Okay. You know what? I can't deal with this right now," the man sighed as he held the bridge of his nose while shaking his head.

Suddenly the strap around Blue Eyes' right arm had snapped off. Noticing that one of his limbs was now free, Blue Eyes quickly reached around and tried to undo the other bindings that held him down.

"Dammit! Hey!" The man shouted again when he noticed what had happened.

This time the man pulled out the handgun to his side and aimed it at Blue Eyes, causing the wounded chimpanzee to stop momentarily in his struggle.

"Don't make me shoot you again," the human warned. "I'm not going to kill you but I will hurt you if you don't stop."

Keeping his icy cold glare upon the man and then to the gun in his hands, Blue Eyes slowly lowered himself back onto the bed, complying to the human's request. The moment he had laid his head back down, that was when the other human suddenly emerge from the other end of the area, a giant white fabric stuck onto his cheek.

"What happened?!" the other man asked as he approached them.

"Your monkey here tried to escape again," the one with the handgun explained, causing Blue Eyes to bare his fangs at him.

"Put that away, Max," the man with the bandage said aloud as he placed his hand over the soldier's handgun and lowered it.

The human with the weapon, huffed and glared at his companion before shoving the weapon into his gun holster and raised his hands.

"Alright… don't complain to me when he's bashing you face in again," Max uttered as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Ignoring the other soldier, the man with the pale colored eyes then turned back to Blue Eyes and approached him. Seeing this, Blue Eyes tensed up at the approach, causing the man to stop in his tracks and slowly hold up his hands like before.

"Its okay. You don't have to be scared. You're safe here," the pale-eyed man said softly. "I'm just trying to help."

Blue Eyes on the other hand, was none too trusting of this human and his trigger happy companion, who apparently had abducted him. He was still unsure of their intentions of what they were going to do to him.

"Help?" Blue Eyes asked.

"Yes, we're here to help. My name is Nicholas," the man started to introduce himself. "That guy over there. He's called Maxwell."

At the mention of his name, the other human nodded his head once in Blue Eyes direction.

"Don't trust you," Blue Eyes said lowly.

At that the supposedly friendlier of the two humans straightened himself back up and offered a somber smile.

"Yeah… I understand," the man said quietly. "After what you've been through and if I were in your position. I probably would have said the same thing. But I promise you. Your with good humans here," Nick reassured the wounded chimpanzee.

Still unsure, Blue Eyes frowned at the two humans, his icy glare darting between the two, judging if what was being relayed to him was true or not.

"Well… even if you don't believe me. I just want you to know that I want to help," Nick said after a few heartbeats. "Does you hurt anywhere?"

At the questions Blue Eyes tested his body and felt a numerous amount of pain that radiated throughout his whole being. Most of it of course, was around the top left of his head, causing him to grimace and reach up to it with his right hand.

"No, don't do that," Nick said aloud as he reached out, only to stop when Blue Eyes growled at him. "You'll only cause more harm to yourself," Nick said quietly.

Feeling the strange fabric wrapped around his head again, Blue Eyes lightly pulled on them before heaving out a tired sigh and letting his arm fall back down to his side. Everything was happening so fast around him and it was making him sick, with processing so many things at once in such a short time. Closing his eyes tightly to regain his composure, Blue Eyes opened them back up and looked down at the uncomfortable straps that bound him. Reaching toward them with his free hand, Blue Eyes began to undo his bindings.

"Hey-" Max started but stopped when Nick merely held a hand out and simply shook his head.

Not happy with this, Max turned his sights back to their charge and watched as the chimp effortlessly undid all of the straps.

After Blue Eyes had freed himself he thought on his current situation for a long while as he laid there. What are the possibilities he would do if he were to suddenly escape? Where would he go? Would he be able to go back to the forest? Where his family and beloved are? But what are the chances that they are still there? Back at the hidden fortress, since after the attack…? Did they all leave for their new home that he Ash and his uncles had charted for them? They must have, in order to escape. That would be the most logical reason to do so. Or maybe they were all still fighting? Blue Eyes didn't know. However, if they did leave to their new home this only means that Blue Eyes himself would need to follow them. But in his condition now… that would not be possible. Even he knew that… With so much thoughts going through his head again, Blue Eyes couldn't help himself as he grimace in pain and gently placed his hands on top of his head.

"Hey?" a quiet voice said to the side, causing Blue Eyes to look up at Nick with one eye.

The other man was looking back at Blue Eyes with such concern for him, that it was almost alien to him. Not many humans would offer apes such a look of sympathy and they were very few out in the world that he has been in.

"You look like you're hurting?" Nick said softly as he pulled up a stool and sat next to the chimp. "Maybe I need to look at that head of yours again. It was pretty bad when we found you."

"Found… me?" Blue Eyes managed.

"Yeah… Max and I found you by the river during out scouting mission," Nick answered.

Blue Eyes vaguely remember something like that a while ago. He remembered the scent of the river, falling into its cooling embrace and then found himself washed up onto the side. Back then, he didn't know what was going on and could only remember two strange figures, accompanied with the weird noises they were making. Then all was dark after that.

"Why… help me?" Blue Eyes asked after he recovered enough from the pain to speak.

Max had then turned to look at Nick as well, a curiosity to his own dark eyes to which Nicholas simply let out a tired smile.

"Yeah, why help out this particular ape?" Max jumped in as well.

At the questions, Nick closed his eyes and took in a deep breath to gather his thoughts.

"Because I made a promise," Nick started. "A promise that we'll find other humans who would understand you apes. Let them know that that your kind only wants peace. And that if any of you ever came around. You'll have a place to stay, with humans who understands."

The moment these words were uttered, something clicked within Blue Eyes' mind and memories so very long ago started to emerge from them. Images of humans in cages running about when they were freed from the apes. One couple, a raven haired woman and a red haired man, thanking both Blue Eyes and Ash for saving them from the the other apes.

Blinking, Blue Eyes took another look at the human, called Nick, again. He could now see that the man sported red colored hair and was accompanied with pale blue eyes. The man was older now, but Blue Eyes now recognized the man that he and Ash had saved, so very long ago.

"Human. From the human cages," Blue Eyes breathed.

"Yes," Nicholas beamed at the cerulean eyed ape, "yes, I was."

Of all of the humans to meet, Blue Eyes couldn't quite believe that he would meet the strange man again who had decided to stay and help the apes, after they were taken as prisoner. He had thought that his father had sent them all away, to live their lives freely. Yet, here was one of them, back again to provide aid and assistance when he most needed it.

"Nick-coal-less," Blue Eyes tried to say the man's name.

"Nick," is just fine," Nicholas responded with a light-hearted laugh. "And Max, just for the other guy."

"I can speak for myself you know?" Max spoke up from behind.

A thoughtful look then crossed Nicholas' mind and he eyed Blue Eyes once more.

"I never got your name," he then said.

Blue Eyes stared up at Nick and then turned his head slowly to look at Max as well before eyeing the red haired man once more.

"Blue Eyes. My name. Is Blue Eyes."

…

As soon as they left the protection of the woods the small group of three apes plus one girl silently tread across the snow covered ground. Rocket would stop every once in a while and then glance down at the snow and would continued on. Wringing his hands together nervously, the hairs on Bad Ape's body stood on end, the further they continued toward their destination.

Later the four of them came upon what looked like markers of some kind, all etched up in rows in the forms of X's. Rocket raised his fist up to halt the others as he spotted these enigmatic X-shaped structures at the edge of the cliff. The bulky chimp glanced up at the watchtower, just slightly off a ways away from the arrangement of X's and could see that there were no light within them. Meaning that the watchtowers were most likely empty. He then signaled to Maurice and informed the older ape that he was going to go check out those strange things.

The older orangutan cautioned the brawny chimpanzee to be careful as the other ape slowly made his way on over to the strange assemblies. Maurice and Bad Ape watched Rocket from afar and could see that the lone chimp rounding himself to look at the things. At first there was a look of confusion upon Rocket's face. Immediately however, the nearly hairless ape's face contorted to that of horror. All of a sudden, Rocket had dropped his gun and reached out to the X structure and began to undo what look like rope upon the things. Confusion settled upon both Maurice and Bad Ape, the two and the human girl quickly approached their distraught friend to see what was the problem.

As they neared, Maurice could now see the shadowy figures that were roped to the crosses that Rocket was unbinding. The figures of an ape. Surprise, shock and horror etched itself upon the older orangutan's features as well as he immediately approached Rocket and started to assist him too.

Once the bindings were undone, the bound ape fell into both Rocket and Maurice's arms and they lowered the ape gently onto the ground. Bad Ape then slowly approached and peered from behind the shaggier ape's shoulders, trying to see and understand what is going on.

Letting out low guttural sounds, Maurice gently tried to wake the other ape up and was relieved when the wounded chimpanzee, Andy in this case, opened up his eyes slowly.

"You're. Alive!" Rocket breathed as he held onto the other chimp's shoulder.

"Rock-Ket?" Andy uttered in a hoarse voice. "Mur-reese?"

Maurice guttural gently in response as he reached out and held onto Andy's head comfortably. Letting the wounded chimpanzee know that he was there.

With several slow blinks and realizing that both Rocket and Maurice were real, Andy offered the two ape a smile of gratitude for releasing him from the cross that he was bound to. Before he could say anything, Andy's eyes slowly closed again.

At this, Rocket's eyes widened and he quickly shook Andy, to keep the other chimp from dying on him.

He was not going to lose another friend.

After a few moments, Andy tiredly opened his eyelids back up once more and stared blankly up at both Rocket and Maurice.

" _He's alive,_ " Rocket signed in relief.

" _Yes, but barely,_ " Maurice responded. " _We need to check on the others as well,_ " Maurice signed back quickly.

Nodding in agreement, Rocket offered the wounded chimp to Maurice, so that he could be looked after and stood back up quickly. The little girl, who had still been curiously looking about, knelt down next to Maurice and gently petted Andy's forehead, hoping to bring some comfort to the damaged ape. Spotting Bad Ape off to the side, Rocket made his way on over to the smaller chimpanzee and placed his hands upon the other ape's shoulders, causing him to yelp in surprise.

"Look! For others!" Rocket said desperately. "Save! Them!"

With wide green eyes and understanding the serious of the situation at hand, Bad Ape nodded quickly at Rocket's pleading request. Whoever these other apes were to his new friends. They were important to them and so in extension, they were important to him as well. Taking in a deep, albeit, hesitant breath, Bad Ape glanced around him and immediately set off to find any other surviving apes that were tied to the crosses.

Still shaking with what he had just discovered, Rocket turned his eyes upon the human zoo and stared at it hopelessly. From his vantage point he could make out the figures of apes. Their apes. All crowded within the pens below them.

What had the humans done?

Shaking his head quickly, Rocket himself did not have time to dwell on that and he had to save as many of his brothers as he could. So, like Bad Ape, Rocket made his way to the next cross to help the ape who was tied to it.

…

"Grant and Lee…" a voice echoed out.

As Caesar painfully regained consciousness, his eyelids opened and he noticed a figure standing right above him. As his blurry vision cleared, Caesar could soon make out the image of one of the human soldiers whose lives he had spared before, aiming a bowgun right down at him.

Preacher, they had called him, as his namesake etched onto his uniform of clothing.

The youth looked tense and uncomfortable as he watched over Caesar, but held the military-grade crossbow at the ready nonetheless.

"Wellington and Napoleon…" the voice continued, causing Caesar to follow it's voice to see the image of a man walking into view. "Custer and Sitting Bull… You're probably not much of a reader" the man said as he tilted his head off to the side, as he looked down at Caesar behind his dark glasses. "But this is a big moment." The man continued with a slight smirk to his lips.

Caesar's eyes widened as he recognized the Colonel immediately. He glared fiercely at the murderer of his wife and firstborn. All awareness of his physical pains was incinerated by the white-hot rage ignited at the very sight of this particular human.

The man's brows the furrowed as he stared down at Caesar, as if curious about something.

"Where were you?" The Colonel suddenly asked. "We came upon your herd. We got lucky, but I was surprised… you weren't with them."

Seeing red, Caesar had let out a growl as he quickly got up and crawled on over toward his enemy, intent on ripping out his throat for what he had done to Cornelia, Blue Eyes, Spear and the rest of the apes. Just as he got close enough to basically taste his revenge, Caesar suddenly found himself unable to reach the man, held back by something around his neck. He was suddenly yanked back by the binding around his throat, causing him to momentarily stop and see who had done so.

To Caesar's surprise he saw Red standing just a few feet away from him, hands holding onto some metal chains that connected itself to the collar around his throat. Along with that, he also felt shackles around his wrists and ankles as well. The turncoat gorilla tugged cruelly on the chain, obviously enjoying Caesar's humiliation and discomfort. While keeping his eyes upon Red, Caesar's gaze then wandered on over toward Preacher, who leveled his weapon right at him. At this, Caesar scorned at the young man, whose situation had once been reversed, not so long ago.

"I hope you don't come to regret sparing his life," the Colonel said aloud, once everything started to settle down. "He's quite a good shot."

The man then took a step forward and looked down upon Caesar.

"Have you finally come to save your apes?" the Colonel asked.

At this, Caesar's golden-green eyes blazed murderously. "I came for you."

The Colonel's brows furrowed curiously, wondering why Caesar had said such a thing.

"For me?" he asked as he stared down at Caesar. "Who did I kill that night?"

"My wife. My son," Caesar said aloud.

The man was quiet for a moment before he stepped closer and knelt down close to Caesar. He stared at ape leader for a long while, seemingly to contemplate on something before letting out a deep breath of his own.

"I'm sorry," the Colonel said, in seeming sincerity. "I was there for you."

Caesar ignored the worthless apology from the man. He glowered at the Colonel, who was almost but not quite within reach, thanks to Red. The man took off of his sunglasses, seeming fascinated by the legendary ape he had been hunting for years.

"My God, look at your eyes… they're almost human," the Colonel considered the prisoner before him. "How did you and that other one, know that I was here?"

Other one? At this question, Caesar curiously glanced behind him only to find Koba's limp form laying just a few feet away. The bonobo must have been knocked unconscious too and from what Caesar could see, the other ape was also bound in chains and shackles. Holding onto his bindings though stood a couple of chimpanzee turncoats whom Caesar couldn't see clearly. Shutting his eyes, Caesar slowly turned back to face the Colonel.

"I was told you were coming. That more soldiers from the North… would be joining you here," Caesar spoke gravelly.

"Joining me?" The Colonel echoed.

"To finish us off," Caesar continued. "For good."

The Colonel smirked at Caesar, as though at a private joke that only he knew.

"Who told you that?" The man inquired.

At the question, Caesar held his tongue, not about to betray Bad Ape's confidence, let alone alert the Colonel of Maurice, Rocket and the others. Caesar had to wonder to himself though, how long had both he and Koba been unconscious for? If the sun hadn't risen yet, then his friends would still be waiting in the woods just beyond the canyon. He had told them to leave and join the others, but that was before he and Koba had discovered that the exodus was already doomed. He wasn't sure what he wanted them to do now, or what they are doing, since news of this information.

He just hoped that they were safe.

There was a sudden commotion behind him and Caesar could tell that Koba had woken up with a start. Glancing over his shoulder, Caesar could see that the bonobo slowly getting up from his positing and then noticing the binding to his neck and limbs. Most unpleased with his current condition, the scarred bonobo began to struggle against the turncoat apes, only to earn a hard smack to the face from one of them.

"Don't you move!" Preacher could be heard, warning Koba as the young man pointed his weapon right at the bonobo's chest.

This seemed to have the necessary effect that was needed as Koba immediately calmed down as he took in the situation that both he and Caesar were in. Koba turned to look at Caesar and could see the disappointment within the ape leader's eyes, causing shame to fill his being. However, as looked just slightly over, he recognized the rusted furred ape that held onto Caesar's leash and Koba couldn't help himself as he bared his fangs at the gorilla.

After the bonobo's commotion, the Colonel glanced back at Caesar and sighed in resignation. He was not surprised by Caesar's refusal to answer his question, so instead he nodded at Red and the other apes.

"Okay, let's go."

Red and the other apes yanked on both Caesar and Koba's leashes, bringing the two roughly to their feet. The action had caused Caesar's head to spin momentarily, as the collar dug into his throat, choking him so.

Preacher also moved in toward Caesar and Koba, keeping a close watch on the two captive prisoners, as he, Red, the other donkeys and the Colonel himself marched out of the depot into the frozen prison yard beyond.

It was still dark out, but electric lights lit the area harshly with its artificial luminescence. Walking past the compound, to their left both Caesar and Koba could see many of the human soldiers standing about as they stared at the two new prisoners.

As Caesar was roughly pushed along, he then turned his attention to the pens, where his people were being held against their will. Countless chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and bonobos were crowded into several large holding pens. The apes, they were all shackled to each other, making it impossible for them to escape by climbing out of the enclosures. Many of the apes stared aghast at both Caesar and Koba, through the metal bars of the fences, stunned to see the two of them. His heart aching for his people, Caesar tried to meet their eyes to let them know that he shared their distress, but, to his surprise and dismay, the majority of the apes averted their gaze. Sullen expressions and resentful scowls only greeted Caesar in return.

It was here that Caesar realized that many of the apes had lost faith in him. Because he was not there for them when they needed him the most. The realization that his own people felt that he had abandoned them jolted Caesar to his very core. Koba on the other hand, silently followed and met all of the resentful glares that were directed at him.

Then from among the crowd of apes within the pens, one particular ape hooted and caught the attention of both of the prisoners. Turning their heads both Caesar and Koba spotted a familiar looking chimpanzee, whose coat was that of ashy in tone, accompanied with white fleck coloring upon his snout and bright green eyes.

Ash.

The young male beamed hopefully at the two older apes, given his rugged and worn visage. Meeting Ash's eyes, Caesar's features slowly turned into that of guilt. He should have never burden such a responsibility to the younger male when he had left. The responsibility was his and his alone and Caesar could not describe the feeling of what he had put the young chimp through.

Shamefully, Caesar turned his head away from Ash, not noticing the look of confusion appearing on the younger chimps face.

Ash had then looked to Koba for answers as confusion formed upon the younger male's face. Koba on the other hand, merely shook his head slowly from side to side in response as they moved along.

Staggering on numbly, on the verge of losing all hope, Caesar lifted his head when he heard a frenzy of plaintive shrieks from another pen. Turning rapidly toward his left, Caesar could see that this particular pen held the ape children of their colony, heartlessly separated from their parents. Helpless and frightened, the children all gazed up pitiably at both Caesar and Koba, looking at them for deliverance of some kind. One small chimpanzee cried out helplessly as he pressed himself against the fence, trying to desperately keep pace with Caesar, who was devastated to behold the terrified face of his only surviving son.

 _Cornelius!_

The little one's tearful eyes pleaded for his father. Tiny fingers stretched through the bars of the fence, pathetically trying to reach out toward Caesar, who wanted nothing more than to comfort his motherless child.

" _Father!_ " the little ape kept on signing over and over again, desperately as he cried out in despair.

Seeing this, Caesar wanted to lunge toward his child, to comfort him in any way he can, chain or no chain as he stopped in his tracks. However, Caesar forced himself to hold back for acting on this. He glanced anxiously at the Colonel, terrified that he would take note of the little chimp's frantic reaction to Caesar and figure out that he hadn't killed all of Caesar's family just yet. Better that the Colonel thought that he was just another ape child of no special importance.

The Colonel stared at Caesar momentarily and then back at the crying small one, and Caesar feared that maybe the man had figured out his connection to Cornelius. Thankfully, Red shoved him from behind, causing him to stagger and glance back at the turncoat. With a quick nod from his head, the Colonel directed both Red and the other turncoat ape to push Caesar and Koba to the adult pens, leaving Cornelius' desperate cry behind them.

The gate slid open and both Caesar and Koba were hurled to the frozen ground with more force than was strictly necessary. Red then grabbed ahold of both Caesar and Koba's legs, shackling them with the others as he unshackled their collars and wrists.

While this was going on, Caesar looked upon the Colonel with despair upon his features. He knew that at this moment, he was bested and there was nothing he could do in this current situation.

His work done, Red returned the key to Preacher, who clipped it back onto the crowded ring on his belt. Preacher, Red and the other turncoat apes, followed the Colonel out of the pen, slamming the door shut behind them. The group glanced back once at the fallen ape leader before silently walking off.

After the Colonel and his followers had left, Caesar found both he and Koba reunited with their people, bu there was no heartfelt homecoming, joyous or otherwise warm welcome for them. The captive apes all but ignored their presence, at most casting furtive glances at them while murmuring and signing amongst themselves. It was this bearing sight that Caesar knew that he had lost confidence of those who had once revered him.

Propping himself onto his elbows, Caesar looked around and then met the soft features of both Tinker and Lake. The two females offered Caesar a look of sympathy as they made eye contact.

"Tinker. Lake," Caesar breathed.

" _Forgive them,_ " Tinker had signed. " _We have been through a great deal._ "

Hearing this from Tinker, Caesar nodded slowly and lowered his eyes for a moment before staring back up at them.

" _I'm sorry. I couldn't protect Cornelius,_ " Lake apologized.

"Don't be," Caesar breathed out, wincing as he could still hear Cornelius' anguish cries for him. "There was nothing you could do."

Tinker had then reached on over and took a hold of Caesar's hand, grasping it firmly within hers to draw his attention.

"Rocket?" Tinker asked, her eyes already glistening. "Where?"

"Safe," Caesar responded in a soft voice. "He's safe."

Upon hearing this, Tinker had let out a relieved breath as she closed her eyes, hands held close to her bosom and tears rolled down her cheeks. Caesar then turned to look at Lake and confusion crossed his features.

"Your parents?" Caesar asked the younger female.

" _Mother is chained further down,_ " Lake explained before her soft features broke and she shook her head quickly. " _They hurt father and took him away when we first got here. With many others. I have not seen him since. I fear the worst has happened to him,_ " she explained tearfully as Tinker reached out and held onto her.

When Lake had mentioned that her father was taken away, Caesar noticed Koba stiffen slightly to the side and he turned to look at the bonobo. Meeting Caesar's gaze, Koba simply frowned and shook his head before pointing to Lake. Not needing to know what Koba meant, Caesar glanced off in the direction where the X-shaped crosses still stood in the darkness and his face fell.

"No…"

* * *

 **If anyone still doesn't recognize who Nicholas is, please refer back to chapter 17. Thank you!**

 **Also, it seems that maybe Rocket, Maurice, Bad Ape and Nova may be able to help some other apes as well.**


	61. Chapter 61

A chanting voice greeted the rise of the new dawn, rousing Caesar from his uneasy dreams. He woke to find himself lying on the icy ground of the pen, still chained to the other apes, whom were stirring as well. The sound of marching boots accompanied the stern voice ringing out with a distinctly military cadence.

Still slightly disoriented, Caesar got up to move, but his shackles limited his movements greatly, causing him to fall over. Getting back up he looked around at his fellow prisoners, who all looked anxious, as they knew-and dreaded-what was coming next. The only one that looked just as confused as him was Koba, who stood up rigidly and looked back and forth at the strange spectacle. Making his way, with Koba and the others, Caesar drew near toward the bars of the pen and watched on curiously.

From his point, Caesar could see many of the human soldiers, marching in tight formation. Stony expressions upon the humans allowed showed no weakness among them. With intense, blazing eyes exposed a common sense of purpose. Caesar knew this look well, as he had once seen it on the faces of his very own apes as well. A look that states that any of them would gladly die for the cause-and their Colonel.

Chilled, and not just by the brisk mountain morning, Caesar watched as one of the human soldiers, led the massed troops in some sort of ritual or ceremony. Just briefly, Caesar had caught the eyes of Preacher, the young man giving him a side glance before following suit with the others in their chant. Caesar did not say anything to the young man, still much too unnerved by the ominous rite that he was spectating before him. Even the most brutal humans he'd encountered in the past had never displayed this kind of fanaticism. The soldiers and survivors back in San Francisco, after the plague, had only been scared, desperate and angry. He hand understood what had driven those humans there to violence, even if he had to fight back against them.

But this… this was something different. Something that was wrong.

And terrifying.

As the soldiers chanted the Colonel had finally stepped out onto the balcony high above his troops. He was bare-chested, despite the cold, as though he hadn't finished dressing yet. Casually shaving his skull with a razor, he gazed down at his cheering soldiers, who chanted and whooped at the mere sight of him.

There was silence and then from large speakers that hung around the yard, some type of music started to play, confusing both Caesar and Koba even more than what they are both seeing and hearing. The soldiers had then turned towards the apes in one swift movement. Again, Caesar caught sight of Preacher once more before the soldiers all suddenly stormed towards the apes within the pens.

With the gates unlocked armed guards, accompanied by Red and a few of the other turncoat apes, barged into the enclosures and forced the lines of chained apes to their feet and out into the yard. Barked commands were backed up by viscous leather whips, which were used to motivate the apes to move, whether they were needed or not. The whips cracked against the backs and shoulders of the prisoners, brutally reminding Caesar of the ugly welts that he had seen across Spear's back. The sight of apes whipping apes turned Caesar's stomach and made Koba growl in distaste.

 _Apes do not hurt apes!_

Both still horrified by what they were seeing, Red had stood at the entrance of the pens and noticed the two apes looking on. Narrowing his acid-green eyes, Red approached both Caesar and Koba and took them by the arms, shoving them out of the pen as well.

The soldiers had marched the apes toward the other end of the compound, away from the mountain looming above the railway depot. Armed guards paced menacingly on large railcar tankers that lined up along one side of the camp. Both Caesar and Koba stopped briefly to eye tanks, which provided fuel for the camp's generators, keeping the lights on at night. Just a few heartbeats later the two apes were shoved roughly by Red and they continued on their way.

When they had finally pass the tankers, a tremendously high wall came into view. Sealing the front end of the canyon, the colossal structure was like nothing Caesar and Koba had ever seen before. Part of it, consisting of large cracked slabs of weathered concrete erected many years ago, appeared to be man-made. The rest and bulk of the wall was obviously ape-made by construction alone, as massive tree trunks were fasten together to form an enormous framework into which huge chunks of stone were being set, once by one. The sheer amount of manual labor required to accomplish this was astounding… which most definitely explained why the Colonel and his soldiers hadn't killed all of the apes yet and it also makes what Spear said true.

That the apes were being made to work.

"Apes are being used as slaves!" Koba hissed next to Caesar and Red, before the bonobo rounded to glare up at the gorilla. "To rebuild this wall?!"

Red narrowed his acid-green eyes at Koba and stared down at the once ape leader.

"It's what the kernal. Wants," Red stated simply.

"And you help him to make apes do this!?" Koba accused.

" _No better than making apes go to war. Like you,_ " Red signed back as he glared menacingly at Koba.

"Apes fight war to protect apes. Not to help humans," Koba hissed in a icy tone as he stretched up toward Red, the hairs on his body standing on end and muscles tightening underneath his taut skin.

"Koba, stop!" Caesar intervened as he quickly stepped in between both of the other apes. "Enough," Caesar said to the bonobo, as he met the other ape's eyes.

Still fuming on the spot, Koba had side glanced at Caesar then scowled back up at Red once more before easing himself and taking a step away from the gorilla. Taking a deep breath, Caesar then slowly rounded his heated glare up at Red whom stared back just as scornful. With nothing more to be said, Red then harshly shoved both Caesar and Koba toward the wall again, to where the other apes were herded around to be made to work.

Eventually both Caesar and Koba were separated from one another and it was then the ape king had experienced firsthand what his unfortunate people had been enduring for days on end.

...

Despite the wintry climate that he was in, Caesar labored underneath the sun, hidden behind the clouds, as he toiled ceaselessly upon the wall. He, just like the others around him, was now just another slave in a suffering mass of apes that were forced into hard labor by the Colonel's soldiers. Huge rocks, much too heavy for the average human to lift, were passed from ape to ape, while other apes strained on ropes to lift the boulders into place high upon the ever-growing wall. Armed soldiers supervised the construction, their weapons discouraging any opposition from the overworked apes, while Red and his fellow turncoats stood ready with their whips in case any of the ape workers slackened. Squinting as he looked around, Caesar saw even more apes perched precariously on a rocky shelf overlooking the tanker cars, where they were being compelled to quarry more stones from the ledge using picks and hammers. They of course, were being overlooked as well to ensure that the tools were not converted into weapons or to any other uses.

Caesar himself had picked out Tinker, Ash, Maple, Judy and of course Winter among the masses of apes that were being forced to work there. Next to him was Lake as she panted in exhaustion as she accepted the heavy boulder from the ape leader and passed it down along the line. Caesar could tell just by looking at Lake, that the apes were all being pushed to the limits of their endurance while they toil away. They were all weary, gaunt, on the verge of collapse. He had only been at it for less than a day and he was already bone-tired and ready to drop; he could only imagine how fatigued the other apes were, especially the weak and the elderly. For some reason, he himself was curious of Koba's whereabouts and looked about to see if he could see the scarred bonobo that was captured with him. Soon enough, Caesar saw the other ape working away nearby the wall, using a manual lift, made of rope to help bring the heavy stones upward toward the top.

Lake had noticed that Caesar was staring off and followed his gaze to where he was looking at, noticing his dismay.

" _We haven't had food or water since we got here,_ " she signed to her deceased beloved's father.

Caesar had not thought that he could be any more shocked or angry. Even the worst labs and zoos back in the old days had at least fed and watered their animals; how did the Colonel expect the apes to keep working without food and water?

In his anger, there came a rough shove from behind, causing Caesar to turn around to see a very tired and angry looking ape glaring up at him, barely holding onto the heavy boulder within his arms. Reaching to alleviate the burden the other ape roughly handed the stone into Caesar's hands, nearly causing him to drop it. Grunting, Caesar held firm before he slowly and gently passed it along to Lake.

"Why do they need a wall?" Caesar asked curiously.

Lake however merely shook her head, not having any answers for him, even as she strained to pass the hefty stone along the chain gang. Thinking again, Caesar wondered why the human would need the wall for? Was it to keep the apes in-or to keep someone else out?

In his musing, Caesar was interrupted by the arrival of the Colonel, who strode onto the scene to inspect the progress of the work. As he watched the Colonel the sounds of machinery caught Caesar's attention and he turned to look at the mounted rocket artillery that were turning around on top of the walls.

Slowly rounding himself back around and looking ahead, Caesar was surprised to see Winter glaring at him just a few paces away, lugging some heavy wood.

"Winter?" Caesar said quietly as the white gorilla's own chain gang stopped on by.

At the mention of his name, Winter had stopped briefly to acknowledge the ape leader, eyes narrowing all the while.

" _You came back?_ " Winter asked with one hand.

At this question, Caesar was confused but nodded to answer the younger white furred gorilla.

" _Why?_ "

Caesar blinked in surprise but furrowed his brows.

"I was trying to look for the Colonel and lead the soldiers away," Caesar answered as he passed a heavy stone off. "To protect apes."

Winter's brows only knitted together and he offered Caesar a scornful look.

"Lies," Winter bared his fangs. " _You left us! Abandoned us to seek revenge!_ "

At this, Caesar brows furrowed in surprise at the usually timid gorilla.

" _You left us, Caesar,_ " Winter signed again. " _You abandoned us so that you can chase after a human who had hurt you._ "

"Because they killed my family!" Caesar harshly growled back at Winter who was not at least bit deterred by the ape leader's sudden spike of anger.

"Humans. Killed my family. Too!" Winter responded just as strongly in a icy voice, causing Caesar to snap out of his anger.

The hairs on Caesar's body lowered as did his posture when Winter had spoken up to him..

" _Humans killed Glade… my, Glade… Other ape families as well. But when it happens to you…. you ran away,_ " Winter signed.

" _Winter, stop this,_ " Lake had signed when the white haired gorilla glared back at the ape leader.

But her words were ignored.

" _I warned you Caesar. That we needed to leave that night. To get away as far as we can, so that the humans would not have followed us. But you didn't listen. You…_ _You decided to stay… and because of that… Glade… Cornelia… Blue Eyes… they're gone now,_ " the white haired gorilla continued.

Caesar wanted to argue back to say that Winter wrong… but he couldn't. No matter what he thought or tried to defend his actions, Winter was right.

" _Winter, that is not fair,_ " Lake jumped in. " _Caesar did what he thought was best for all of us. You cannot put the blame on him._ "

" _Why not?_ " Winter retorted. " _He still left us to defend ourselves! No matter what had happened, he should not have left us like that! He was not the only one that was hurting too!_ "

Lost in his own thoughts, Caesar had looked down at his hands as Winter, Lake and a few other apes argued around him. If he hadn't chosen to stay in the first place, they all would have been at their new home by now. Instead he chose to stay and thus caused the death of his beloved Cornelia, his son Blue Eyes and Winter's mate. Not to mention the deaths of countless others before… Then in his selfish act of vengeance, he had caused their apes to be captured too. How many families were lost just that single day and how much loss did every ape suffered because of him. As Winter's words weighed down on him, Caesar felt his heart shattered into many pieces.

Finally Caesar reached out to take a hold of Lake's shoulder as she was still defending him. Meeting the younger female's eyes, Caesar gently shook his head side to side, telling her that it was okay. Turning to look at Winter and the few other angry faces, he took in a deep breath.

"I… I'm sorry, Winter. Everyone. I'm so sorry," Caesar apologized.

Many of the apes turned their heads away from the ape leader, others simply glared in Caesar's direction for a few brief moments before returning to their labors. Winter on the other hand, narrowed his own furious eyes at the ape king, skeptic of Caesar's supposedly sincere apology.

"Where. Is Luca?" Winter asked all of a sudden, causing Caesar's eyes to widen at the mention of the deceased gorilla.

Meeting Winter's angry gaze, Caesar opened his mouth to say something but instead opted to keep it shut and shook his head slowly in shame.

Seeing the ape leader, unable to answer him, Winter closed his eyes and took in a deep shaky breath. The one last ape that he had considered family, a father figure that he had looked up to, was now gone too. And it did nothing more but filled Winter's already hurting heart with more anguish. All because of Caesar's selfishness for revenge.

"Hey you! Move it!" one of the humans shouted and pointed at Winter and his chain gang.

Winter spared the shouting human a quick glance before he reached down and hefted the heavy wood back onto his shoulders once more.

"I. Hate. You." Winter spoke in a quiet seething voice as he passed on by.

Caesar was quite shaken to hear such strong words from the younger white haired gorilla. The look that Winter had given him, it was downright all too familiar to him as well, reminding him of… himself. While the ape leader stood there, still shocked and horrified by what Winter had said to him. It really made Caesar think on how he had been acting and treating others all this time.

Was this what he looked like to the others? An ape that exuded with nothing but pure hatred?

This sinking and shameful uneasiness that he felt now. Was this what it felt like? Was this what Koba was going through when Caesar himself was directing his anger at the scarred bonobo? It was absolutely terrible.

Seeing Caesar's distress, Lake had reached up and touched the ape leader's shoulder to get his attention.

" _Don't worry about what Winter said. He is still… hurt by all that has happened,_ " she explained slowly. " _He doesn't… he doesn't really mean what he said._ "

"Yes…" Caesar responded in a defeated voice as he watched the white haired gorilla leave from where he stood. "Yes… he doesn't."

…

Ever since he was separated from Caesar and shackled with a few of the other apes, Koba worked laboriously at his tasks, ignoring the accusing glares and rough shoves that were aimed in his direction. He was made to carry many a heavy boulders and woodwork that were to be used to build this damn human wall of theirs. Panting heavily, Koba had paused momentarily take a few breaths as he adjusted the heavy log on his backside. There was another shove from behind and Koba nearly lost his balance as he caught the heavy wood within his arms and glared back at the ape behind him.

" _Hurry, traitor!_ " the ape signed quickly with a bundle of stones under his arms, eyes glancing about to make sure that they were not spotted, slacking off.

Eyeing the ape behind him, Koba could see his two shackled members were none too pleased to have been paired up with him due to past events. Since he had been stuck with these two other chimps, Koba was made to do more of the… strenuous tasks. Such as carrying the heavier objects by himself and or made to hold something for long extensive periods of time. Whereas the two apes took more lenient tasks to rest their already aching and battered bodies. With a grunt, Koba adjusted the heavy log and carried on without a word, while the two other apes followed behind.

"Why. Koba come. Back?" One of the apes asked in a accusing tone.

"Should. Never. Come back. To. Us. Apes," the other voiced.

With a frown, Koba carried on, ignoring the words from his two chained members. Usually, he would not tolerate this from the other apes that would say this to him. But deep down, he knew that what they were saying to him were in just. Something that just added to his list of crimes that was committed to the colony. So, holding his tongue and keeping his temper in check, Koba continued on, letting the insults, accusations and scornful looks continue.

During their laborious tasks, Koba had taken several quick glances around to see if he can spot Caesar or the others but could never find them in sight. He had spotted Ash briefly, carrying a large boulder and passing it along down the line of other apes. Oh how much he wanted to see how his honorary nephew was doing and have his questions answered. But there was no momentary rest from him and Koba was pushed along by the others, as they all had work that needed to be done.

As the morning dragged on, Koba soon found himself working underneath the wooden frameworks that allowed the apes to get further up the wall. Using an old fashioned rope pulley system, he strained against the knotted rope as he lifted the heavy stone up towards the top by himself. Heaving deep breaths, Koba used every ounce of muscles within his arms to keep the lever steady so that the apes at the top could help lift his burden. Of course, his chained companions could have helped him too but they opted to instead make the scar bonobo work by himself, offering no support of any kind. Koba didn't care though, all he knew was that he would be relieved soon and that salvation came when finally the other apes atop took the stone from the rope.

Exhaling deeply, Koba had let his tired and sore arms fall to his side as soon as the stone was taken from him. Turning his gaze on over to his other two companions, he was only met with glares and contempt from them.

" _We must go,_ " one of the apes signed and then tugged on their shackles so that they would continue their duties, without rest.

Growling in annoyance Koba was about to follow but perked up when he heard a shout behind him.

"Hey!"

The sound of the voice had caught Koba's attention, as well as the other two apes he was chained to, causing them to freeze on the spot. Turning their attention in the direction of the voice, Koba could see that one of the human soldiers who had yelled out was looking upwards at the framework above him. Glancing upward, Koba himself took notice that all did not seem right. Hearing the weary sounds of what seemed to be an older ape above him, he gently leaned outward to see what was happening above.

Up at the top of the framework, Koba could see Percy, one of the elder apes, struggling with the rope lift that he was just using. Glancing at the rope just a few feet away from him, if he could make it there, he could help hold steady the rope and help out the older orangutan. Just as he was about to head toward the makeshift pulley, Koba felt his shackles yanked backwards.

" _What are you doing? Your going to get us killed!_ " one of the apes signed.

"We need to help him!" Koba snapped back.

" _We're not risking it, traitor. We stay!_ " the other chained chimp signed back angrily.

"And leave him to suffer?!" Koba growled as he marched up to the other two apes, causing them to cower slightly in his presence.

He may not hold the status as he once had in the colony but Koba was going to be damned if he was just going to stand around and do nothing as one of their own suffered. Turning back around Koba had rushed on over to try and alleviate the older orangutan's burden, but his other two companions-refusing to still listen to him- tried to hold the scarred bonobo back. This of course, only caused the three of them to fall on over each other. There were angry barks and grunts from the other two apes, but Koba got up quickly to try and make it to the rope, far beneath the lift.

Try as he might though, he was far too late.

Swaying unsteadily upon his shaky legs, the old orangutan lost his grip on the thick rope that was hauling up yet another painfully heavy boulder. Percy had collapsed and the boulder fell downward, smashing into their makeshift framework, knocking some loose stones and with that a large chunk of the structure came crashing down. Panicked apes, humans and Koba alike all dived out of the way of the tumbling boulder, which crashed into a bowl of flames and finally the heap of the wall, raising a choking cloud of dust, grit, smoke and flames.

As the whole framework came crashing down, Koba had jumped backward and slammed his body into the other two apes that were shackled to him, shoving them away from the danger that fell from above.

"Hey! Donkey!" The human soldier who called out earlier turned towards the turncoat apes as he quickly sifted through his belt and pulled out a key from it. "Get him!" the man shouted as he tossed the key toward Red, who caught it.

Shaking his head from the sudden crash, Koba slowly got up and looked around himself. Seeing the collapsed framework, he could only imagine what they would be in for at this destruction that had happened. Pushing that thought away, he then saw the other two apes beneath him, whom he saved. Reaching down to help his two chain gang members up, Koba's had was then smacked away from them.

" _Don't touch us, traitor!_ " one of the apes signed at him, while the other merely glared in his direction, wanting no help as well.

Seeing such malice within the other two ape's eyes, Koba kept his mouth closed into a thin line and instead stood back up as the other pulled themselves together. Turning away from the other two, he could see that Percy and his own chain gang were getting back up themselves, miraculously unharmed by the fall. That was good too see.

Not for long though.

As soon as Koba was relieved to see Percy and the others safe, the sudden appearance of Red, caused the hairs on his body to stand on end. Red walked up toward the elder orangutan and unlock the shackles of the frail looking ape. He then saw that Percy was roughly grabbed by the arm and nearly dragged away by the red haired traitor. Unsure of where Red was taking him Koba had started to follow but was held back by the other two apes. Growling he turned around to glare at them but could see that something was off about his two chained members. They seemed almost scared, not at him but as if they knew something terrible was going to happen. Confused, Koba rounded himself back to see what was going on.

As Koba watched, he couldn't believe his very own working eye. Instead of tending to the injured old ape, Red had roughly dragged Percy from the rubble and brought him out into the yard where all could see them. The elder orangutan was then shoved down onto his knees, by the woodwork and with that Red took a whip and began to strike the elder ape with it.

The moment the whip had struck the older orangutan's weak and battered body, Koba winced as he heard Percy's cries of anguish. Letting out a breath in shock, Koba rounded his head to look back at the other two, whom shamefully averted his gaze, knowing well what was happening. As Koba looked at the other two though, he could then see the dark red lashes that marred underneath the other two ape's bodies.

They must have been struck the same was as well.

Hearing another cry from Percy, Koba angrily turned back around to glare up at Red. How dare he! How day he hurt his own people like this! This terrible and horrific scene drew Koba forward, dragging the rest of the chained apes behind him. Even though he felt them trying to resist him, Koba's own rage was boiling over, as he saw what was being done to his own kind, especially by another ape. As Koba was nearing the scene, a sound to his left had caused him to turn his head and he was met with the sight of Caesar, overlooking the atrocity before him as well. He could see the unbridled fury within the ape leader's eyes as well and as he too witnessed what was happening before him.

Before long, Caesar had finally gave voice to the volcanic fury that had been building up within him.

"LEAVE HIM!"

...

A stunned hush fell over the work site at Caesar's outburst. All heads turned toward the furious chimpanzee leader as he glared at the Colonel from the wooden timbers, unconcerned for his own safety. Apes and humans alike had stopped dead in their tracks, still stunned by Caesar's booming command. Even Red had lowered his whip, forgetting about Percy's punishment for the moment.

Turning his burning gaze upward, Caesar locked eyes with the Colonel, whom hid behind his dark sunglasses, neither leader budging. However, one by one, the other apes began to rally behind Caesar. It had started quietly, with just a few low grunts and growls, but then more apes joined in, hooting and shrieking defiantly. The scowling apes then dropped the stones they had been burdened with, even going so far to slam them onto the ground as well. Soon after, many of the other apes began tossing their tools, their ropes and whatever else they were carrying, off to the side.

With the sudden rally of the apes, Koba could also feel his spirits being lifted as all of the apes around him cried out in defiance with Caesar. Even the two apes that were shackled with him had too cried out along with the others, letting their own voices join in as they raised their fists into the air. Apes, who had previously rejected the chimp leader, rising in rebellion behind him, standing in solidarity with their fellow apes.

Caesar's heart swelled with pride and gratitude to the apes around him. That his people had not given up on hope… or him. As he looked about, Caesar then caught the gaze from Koba, whom was looking up at him in with just as much of awe and admiration, despite his fatigued looking self.

 _Apes together strong._

This was what Luca was trying to tell him. To remind him. That no matter who they were or what they did, they were all apes, as long as they were unified together. Caesar himself had been pushing Koba away, like the apes had done to him, and it now made him realize, just how selfish he was to try and not see that he was going against what he had told the apes over and over again. Koba was still an ape. Always had been and will always be, no matter what his misdeeds.

The human soldiers were at a loss as to how to deal with this unexpected turn of events. The fierce cries of the apes rising to a fever pitch, the troops looked to their Colonel for guidance, but the man merely stared balefully at Caesar. The Colonel then bent down next to Preacher and said something into the young man's ear before pointing toward Caesar himself.

Seeing the young man making his way towards Caesar, accompanied by Red and a few other turncoat apes, Koba seethed. He wanted nothing more than to tear each of their limbs apart. Not caring about the blood he will spill or what his actions would cause for him. He saw the ape leader stepping down to meet them, unafraid of whatever consequences lay ahead for him. That he had roused his apes from despair and inspired them to stand up to their oppressors. Whatever was going through Caesar's mind, he believed it had outweighed whatever punishment the Colonel might have in store for him.

"No," Koba said quietly as Caesar was unshackled from his bonds and was lead away by the ape traitors, along with Percy. "No… no no no!"

Koba moved forward but stopped short when he felt resistance upon his shackles.

" _What are you doing?! You are going to get us killed!_ " Once of the apes signed angrily.

Sparing the other ape a quick glance and then looking down at his binding, Koba met the other two chimp's eyes once more and shook his head slowly.

" _What are they going to do with him?_ " he signed.

Seeing Koba's signs, the two apes both turned their heads away, as if they knew something that he didn't.

" _Nothing good,_ " the other chimp gestured back. " _Best to just let it happen._ "

"Let what happen?" Koba questioned before he rounded himself back around.

Craning his neck as far as he can, Koba watched as they dragged both Caesar and Percy toward the front and were roughly shoved down in front of the Colonel. Ape traitors then took a hold of Caesar's arms and then Red stepped up from behind the ape leader, bearing his whip.

"Cea-"

The moment the whip cracked savagely against Caesar's back, Koba froze and could feel his whole being shatter into pieces. As if he had just died the moment the whip cracked against the ape leader's own body. Gasping from the initial shock, Koba stared wide eyed from his spot among the apes as he watched the Colonel trying to make an example out of Caesar. Before long Red raised the whip in his hands again and brought it down against the chimpanzee body once more.

"Don't hurt him," Koba said in a shaky voice. "Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him," he continued saying, only to be ignored by the still ongoing screeches of the apes around him.

Another wicked slash mark cracked against Caesar's back. The ape king clenched his jaw to keep from crying out due to the pain and was determined to put up a brave front for as long as he could. He could not and would not surrender before the eyes of his very apes that looked up to him. Even so, the defiant hooting of the apes faltered as they witnessed their king being whipped over and over again. Many of the apes gasped and moaned in sympathy, even though Caesar made no sound.

Equally mute, the Colonel nodded at Red, who whipped Caesar again, just as hard before, with the strength of a gorilla. More of the protesting apes around them fell silent, shocked into speechlessness by the brutal spectacle. Beside the ape king himself, Percy had dropped his eyes and stared bleakly at the dirty slush, his spirit seemingly as broken as his body.

Caesar however, refused to give in. Keeping his jaws still clenched tight against the searing agony ripping across his back, he glared stubbornly into the Colonel's eyes that were hidden behind the sunglasses. Both of the leaders confronting each other, refusing to back down.

The sharp crack of the whip rang out in the appalled hush that had fallen over the camp. Wincing in pain, Caesar stubbornly endured the blows without a sound, even as he felt his own blood streaming down his back, wetting his fur. His tortured back felt like it was on fire. His whole body trembled, succumbing to the shock that followed soon after. He couldn't remember ever experiencing pain like this, not even when Pope had shot a bullet into him. He didn't even have the strength to brace himself against the blows anymore. He tottered unsteadily upon his knees, but kept his head high.

But how much longer could he stand up to this beating? He was only flesh and blood…

"ENOUGH!"

Again, all was silent when the thunderous and defiant voice rang out, causing all heads to turn in the direction from where it came from. To the ape's and Caesar's surprise, they saw Koba standing tall, shoulders rising and falling with each heavy breath he took. With a grunt the scarred bonobo then dragged his other two unwilling companions along with him, toward the front and stopped right where the vile human stood. The moment he had reached the Colonel the human soldiers had all raised their weapons and aimed them at him, but Koba could care less of those pathetic creatures. The man however, simply raised his hands to stop the other soldiers from gunning down the ape that had so foolishly approached him.

Right here and now, it was just him and the Colonel, staring each other down. The Colonel's figure was that of a calm and composed one, while Koba's was one full of agitation and passion. There was a drawn out silence within the camp and Koba spared Caesar a mere glance before returning his harsh malice gaze back upon the man in front of him.

"Leave. Him. Alone," Koba said in a cold voice.

"And why should I do that?" The Colonel asked simply.

"Because… This is my fault," Koba answered.

"Your fault?" The Colonel questioned. "And how was this your fault?"

Closing his eyes slowly, Koba took in a deep breath. Opening back up his eyelids, Koba met every single human's gaze before letting his attention fall back upon the human in front of him.

"I started the war," Koba said slowly. "So, hit me instead."

At this there was quizzical looks upon many of the human soldiers. The Colonel however seemed to narrow his brows as he regarded the scarred bonobo in front him, seeming to process the information within his mind. Reaching up slowly, the man took off of his sunglasses and stared down the bonobo, as if he were searching for something.

"Either you're telling the truth. Or you are very good at believing your own words," the man said slowly. "Donkeys!" at the name some of the ape turncoats turned their attention to the man. "Hold him down."

The traitor apes were quick to act as they charged the scarred bonobo and subdued him, slamming in hard onto the frozen earth beneath and beat him over and over again. After a moment Preacher approached the downed ape this time and unlocked his shackles from the others. The Colonel watched quietly as the apes Held onto the scarred bonobo's arms out as well and propped him onto his knees, just like Caesar. Squatting down in front of the bonobo, the Colonel met the ape's furious eyes, or rather one good working eye.

"And what is your name? If you even have one," the Colonel asked.

"Koba," Koba answered through gritted teeth.

"And you want to take his place?" The Colonel asked in his ever calming voice as he turned to look at Caesar, with Koba following the man's gaze.

"Yes… If… if you want to punish someone. Punish me," Koba answered slowly as he rounded his head back to the man.

Instead of looking up at the foul man though, Koba instead kept his gaze on the icy cold ground in front of him instead.

After a few heartbeats while staring down at the beaten and battered bonobo, a knowing and surprised look overcame the Colonel's features.

"I see," the Colonel said slowly as he glanced at Caesar and then back to Koba. "You love him… don't you?"

As those words left that vile human's lips Koba felt his heart skip a beat and his body going stiff. Snapping his head to look up at the Colonel, Koba could see the man eyeing him with a look of knowing… but how? At a lost of words, Koba let is gaze fall momentarily before he turned to look at Caesar, who looked very confused at what the man had just said.

"Judging by the looks that you are giving this one here," the Colonel asked as he turned to stare at Caesar. "You did not know this, as do your apes."

Turning to look up at the Colonel, Caesar spared the man only a few seconds before he turned his gaze back toward Koba who was for the most part silent throughout this sudden revelation. Was this true? Was Koba… in love, with him?

"N-no no. I-I..."

"No need to say anything," the Colonel cut Koba off. "I know that look anywhere. Man or ape. That is the look that someone would do anything for someone they love."

Gasping for breath, Koba swallowed hard and lowered his gaze to the ground in front of him, unwilling to meet the eyes of Caesar or the other apes around him, feeling nothing but shame.

"I… I-" Koba tried to speak but shook his head quickly.

"Hold him," the Colonel ordered the turncoats, causing them to subdue Koba once more.

The Colonel had placed his sunglasses back upon his face and nodded at Red. The red haired gorilla nodded and left Caesar to make his way on over toward Koba.

"I didn't say move," the Colonel said suddenly, confusing Red and everyone else. "Continue," he said simply.

Red halted and even he hesitated for a moment, as though surprised by the command.

"No. I said hit me!" Koba shouted in fury.

"And to that, I say no," the Colonel responded to the struggling ape next to him. "That would only give you the satisfaction that you are searching for. Your demands will not be answered today and for your honesty, you get to see him, punished for both yours and his crimes."

"No, stop!" Koba cried out in desperation and like before, his pleas, whatever they may be, were ignored.

With a firm huff, Red braced himself and lashed against Caesar once more, causing the ape king to grimace against the pain.

"No! Don't hit him! Hit me instead!" Koba kept on screaming out as he continued to struggle within the arms of his captives.

Koba knew that the apes and especially Caesar did not deserve this and should not be dealing with this. However, just as before, like many a times in the past, his wishes were not answered. He so desperately wanted them to stop hurting Caesar. Wanted them to hurt him instead, with his already damaged and broken body. He knew he could take it. As to what more could the humans do to what they've already not done to him? But this, seeing apes being treated like this, especially Caesar. Is something he did not want to see. Instead of being physically punished, the Colonel was emotionally damaging him, by continuing to torment Caesar instead. Koba's eyes burned as they became wet while Caesar was struck over and over again, with him being unable to do anything about it.

As the lashes continued, Koba's cries echoed throughout the camp, begging for the punishment to cease or to be directed to him. Upon hearing the desperation within Koba's voice, many of the apes had turned to one another, unsure of how to feel for the traitorous bonobo who caused the war between them and the humans. However they could see one thing from Koba, and that was that he was willing to own up for all of the misdeeds that he had done, no matter what was going to be done to him.

Finally Caesar's strength had faltered; even he couldn't stand up to this much physical punishment that was brought upon him. Mournful gasps and murmurs from the apes rippled as his head sagged at last. With that, the turncoat apes finally released Caesar, letting the tortured ape leader crumple to the ground.

"Caesar!" Koba called out desperately, voice full of raw emotion as he tried to reach for the ape leader.

At the call of his name, Caesar was drawn back to the world from nearly passing out, due to the intense pain. Thankful at Koba for calling him, Caesar grunted as he brought himself back up onto his knees and spared the bonobo a quick glance. Definitely not finished yet, Caesar took in a deep breath and glowered furiously up at the Colonel as the man approached and knelt in front of him.

"Tell them to get back to work," the man ordered.

"Apes need food…" Caesar side glance at Koba, seeing the distress look upon the bonobo before glaring back at the Colonel, "and water," he growled back.

The Colonel turned his attention toward Koba for a second before he brought his hand up and placed it upon the ape leader's cheek, causing the bonobo to scowl at him.

"Tell them."

"Give them food and wat-"

Before Caesar could finish, the Colonel stood back up, drew his sidearm and shot Percy in the head, killing him on the spot. This sudden action and report caused all of the apes to flinch and cry out in despair. With chilling speed and efficiency, the Colonel then placed the barrel of his pistol against Caesar's temple.

When Koba saw the Colonel had placed his gun upon Caesar's temple, he struggled harder against his captives, earning a few punches to his body and face.

The hot metal felt hard against his skin and skull but Caesar did not fear death and instead pressed himself back against the weapon. He stared at the Colonel fearlessly, hating him as he had never hated any human or ape before. This feeling of hate, paling in comparison to the hatred that he had toward Koba. Percy's pointless death was one more atrocity to add to the Colonel's list of crimes against the apes. No human words or speech could convey the depths of Caesar's fury. His abused body trembled with unbridled rage at the thought of it all.

"Five," the Colonel suddenly began. "Four…"

The gun pressed hard against Caesar's temple, but he did not flinch. If he had to die to prove to the Colonel-and his people-that the apes could not be treated like animals, then so be it. He had given his life to the defense of his apes. And he would be more than glad to do so again.

Then to Caesar's surprise, the Colonel then lifted the gun away from his temple and pointed it at Koba instead. So shocked by the sudden notion, Caesar faltered for a moment and was going to reach out, but stopped when he saw the steely anger upon Koba's face. Seeing that Koba too did not shy away from the weapon Caesar now realized that Koba also did not fear death and would gladly die for the apes… and him, too…

"Three…" as the man continued counting, Caesar did not know what to do. "Two…"

As the man continued to count, stones clattered from afar, drawing the Colonel's attention. Following the man's gaze, Caesar turned his head and he could see a lone ape had picked up one of the fallen boulders, and lifted it high above their head, straining under its weight. This ape was none other than Lake, as she held the stone up above her, panting underneath the heavy object, showing the will to work and desperation to save not just Caesar but Koba's life as well.

Lake's face and eyes were full of raw emotion as she strained under the heavy stone but she would be damned if she would allow another one of their apes to die, no matter who they are or what they did. Soon after, another ape much further down picked up a heavy stone and hefted it over their shoulder as well. This ape, of course, was Ash, his own dusty grey coat could be seen afar, who too followed suit after Lake. Then from among the apes, Winter could be seen moving and hefting up a large piece of timber, setting the heavy object onto his shoulder as he joined the others. That started a chain as another ape had bent down to lift another heavy stone, then another and another.

Both Caesar and Koba watched in awe and dismay as the apes resumed their labors on the wall, reclaiming their burdens and tools. Breathing heavily, Caesar turned back to glare at the human in front of him, whom lowered his gun away from Koba and putting it back into its holster. The Colonel spared both Caesar and Koba a quick glance before he turned toward Red and the other turncoats.

"String him up, donkeys," he said before slowly turning his attention to the bonobo. "Tie this one and make him watch."

* * *

 **Caesar gets a taste of his own medicine, slightly, and notices that he doesn't quite like being treated that way...**

 **Whelp... Cat's out of the bag for Koba. Wonder how he'll be treated now, hrm...**


	62. Chapter 62

**Sorry for the long wait. Here's the next Chapter. There are some slight language further in the chapter, but its not too bad, hopefully.**

* * *

Jojo, Einstein, Arnold, Gregory, Hamlet, Twine, Sheath, Bark and Charlie. These were all names that Maurice must keep to memory as they buried their fallen warriors, whom were so ruthlessly strung up on those crosses and could not be saved. It hurt his dear aching heart as he watched Rocket and Bad Ape, laid the others to rest, for the better part of the morning. Feeling small fingers wrap themselves around his own hand, Maurice gently looked down and could see the sad look that the little human girl was giving him, as if she knew that he was in deep wanting her to worry, Maurice instead sniffed quietly and offered the child a gentle smile, to which the young girl silently eased into.

Shoving one final dirt upon the pile, Rocket dropped to his knees and huffed quietly as he stared at the giant mound. Bad Ape himself was unsure but he slowly approached Rocket and sat down next to him, his face a worried and sad one as well.

"So sorry," Bad Ape spoke softly.

With a gruff, Rocket stood back up and rolled his shoulders. From among the few dozen of apes that were so mercilessly tied to the crosses, they could only save three of them. Those three apes were Spear, Andy and Grey, the latter having the less extensive wounds of the previous two. Rocket, Bad Ape and Maurice were able to haul the three wounded chimps and set them down not too far and did their best to make the three feel as comfortable as they can. In all seriousness, Maurice would had thought that the three wouldn't make it through the night but miraculously, they did. The hard part now, was just keeping them alive and the apes did not know what to do to that extent. They had no food and the only source of water was a frozen river nearby. Luckily Rocket and Bad Ape were able to break the river's surface and fill their canteens with freezing cold water, but the two bared through it and gently helped the other three apes drink, as weak as they were.

" _What do we do now?_ " Rocket asked as he helped Grey drink. " _We haven't gotten any food to help these three and if we don't do anything soon. We might lose them._ "

" _We do our best to keep them alive and warm,_ " Maurice gestured. " _After that we need to find something to feed them. Then-_ "

Before Maurice could finish, they all heard the sounds of crashing down below. Maurice, Rocket, Bad Ape and the little girl all looked at one another in confusion before they raced toward the edge of the cliff and observe to see what was going on. To witness what had happened next, brought much anger and fury within Rocket. Maurice was filled with dread and hopelessness while Bad Ape was filled with only fear and shock. The apes had never seen such a thing before, to see the lashing of apes. It was something… something that wrong and not meant to be. From there they all saw Caesar taking a stand and being punished for it as well with Koba following after but instead was made to watch.

"Bad," Bad Ape said slowly. "Bad humans. Hurt apes."

Rocket and Maurice couldn't agree more as they watched their friends and family be tortured. These humans… they were the worst kinds.

Eventually the ape turncoats had brought both Caesar and Koba to the center of the prison yard. Red had bound Caesar to the tall wooden X on top of a makeshift platform. Koba on the other hand was bound with his arms behind his back and knees on the cold ground, to a wooden pillar in front of Caesar's platform.

Maurice lowered the binoculars, horrified by what he had just witnessed before and handed the object to Rocket.

"Bad place," Bad Ape insisted, not for the first time as well.

When the other apes did not respond right away, he addressed his warning to the girl instead, fearfully seeking anyone who might listen to him.

"Bad bad place," he repeated as the child curiously stared at him.

Bad Ape's bright green eyes then wandered on over toward Rocket.

"What you see?" Bad Ape asked his friend.

" _We have to save them,_ " Rocket signed toward Maurice as he handed the binoculars back to the shaggy orangutan. " _We are the only ones who can do this now._ "

Although Maurice agreed with Rocket, it was unclear of what they could do under these circumstances.

" _But how?_ " Maurice gestured back. " _Must think!_ "

They had already lost Luca, and many of the other apes they had found as well. Not only that, Caesar and Koba had both been captured, after they had left. Who knows what the human are going to do to their friends next. How could only three active apes-including Bad Ape-do to free their very own from the army of humans? Especially with three other wounded to care for.

" _What would Caesar do?_ " Maurice continued, glancing backward to check on the other three apes.

"Oh no!" Bad Ape suddenly exclaimed.

This had caused both Maurice and Rocket to turn toward the smaller chimp in surprise, waiting for him to say what he had discovered that was so shocking.

"Why so small?"

Both Maurice and Rocket couldn't help but let out a unified breath at the clothed chimp. Sighing, Maurice reached out and flipped the binoculars around before handing them back to the confused Bad Ape, who still looked puzzled as he lifted them to his eyes once more.

"Ohhh," the small chimp said a second later.

Maurice and Rocket couldn't believe that Bad Ape was their only remaining companion still at this point. However, they were going to need all the help they could get in order to save their friends and family.

…

Red had finished binding Caesar to the X, tugging on the knots to make sure that they were tight upon the chimp's limbs. Caesar winced, but said nothing, much too exhausted and discouraged to object to what was being done to him. From behind Red, Caesar could see the young soldier-Preacher-frowning at the rough treatment.

"Okay, that's good." the human said before rounding to face the other apes behind him, whom were tying the bonobo to the pole. "You all too."

Red and the other apes looked at Preacher before turning back to their captives. Red's lips curled as he gave Caesar a contemptuous sneer before heading down the steps. The other turncoats did the same as they left Koba kneeling there as well. Lingering, Preacher watched as Red and the other turncoats depart, the approached Caesar hesitantly. The young man glanced about to make sure no one was watching and lowered his voice, just so that Caesar could hear him.

"Look, I owe you one," Preacher began, "so let me set you and your buddy straight here, okay? I think he respects you. Both of you. He does… that's why you're both still alive. But believe me, he can do a lot worse than this. I've seen it."

A haunted look within the young man's eyes hinted at horrors from the past.

"You don't want to mess with him. Understand? So just… back off," Preacher warned.

After saying what he wanted to say, Preacher still glanced about nervously, before retreating down the steps, leaving both Caesar and Koba alone. The young soldier's disturbing warning made Caesar all the more fearful for his ape's safety. If even the other humans were afraid of what the Colonel was ultimately capable of, what did that mean for them?

Aside from the horrible thought, Caesar slowly rounded his head forward until he could see the lone figure of Koba, tied to the wooden post in front of him, head lowered toward the ground. As he watched the scarred bonobo, Caesar himself was quiet as he watched the other ape, unsure of what to say or do.

…

The next time Blue Eyes was awake, he had cleaned himself of all the grime that was still coating his body. Nick and Max had fashioned some running hot water and Blue Eyes was quite surprised at how relaxing warm water on his aching body could be. Not only that, he had to endure Nick cutting off the rest of his head hair, as the man patched him up with whatever wounds he still had left.

"Alright. Now I don't want you to pull off the bandages alright? They need to stay on so the medicine could heal you properly," Nicholas explained.

Blue Eyes didn't answer and instead was looking down at the stone from his necklace that now laid in the middle of his palm. His gaze was fixated on the shattered stone that yet still held together. During all the time that he had received this gift from his dearly beloved, he had not once seen the stone shatter like this. It was as if the stone was now broken… much like him.

"You okay there, Blue Eyes?" Nick asked quietly.

Blue Eyes closed his eyelids and took in a deep breath as he head the stone close toward his chest. Opening back up his eyes the scarred prince nodded slowly.

"Stuck here," Blue Eyes stated simply.

"I know," Nick replied. "But you can't leave right now. Not in your current condition."

"Soon then?" Blue Eyes asked hesitantly as he turned to look at Nick.

Nick stared at Blue Eyes and paused momentarily… unsure of what to say to the ape prince.

"Maybe," a voice suddenly erupted.

Both Blue Eyes and Nick jumped slightly at the sudden voice and turned to see their third occupant - Maxwell, making his way on over toward them with nothing but a pair of pants and a towel around his shoulders.

"Seeing you kick our asses not that long ago, shows me you've got the guts and will to move on," Max said nonchalantly. "A human in your condition wouldn't be able to even sit and talk like you can right now. Makes me kinda envious you know?"

Blue Eyes tilted his head while Nick simply let out a small chuckle.

"Is this your way of cheering up someone?" Nick spoke as he stood up from his chair, giving himself a stretch.

"I'm just saying that baldy there is one tough son of a bitch. And if he's strong enough to still kick our asses while on the verge of death? Well, he'll be alright in no time," Max answered as he turned a cheeky smile at Blue Eyes' direction.

"Son of... a bitch?" Blue Eyes asked, turning to look at Nick.

"Uh… don't you mind that," Nick quickly said to the confused chimp. "He means it in a good way. A… compliment of sorts."

Blue Eyes blinked once at Nick before turning his attention back toward Max and giving him a slight nod. The dark eyed man nodded back before turning around and walking off.

"Nick, you guys had any food in this place? We need to eat."

"Yeah, we had a small garden in open area just outside of the food storage house. I'll come help," Nick called to Max before rounding himself back toward Blue Eyes. "Max and I are going to get some food and water for us okay. I need you to just stay here and rest. No good for you to be up and moving about."

Blue Eyes gave the man a skeptic look but remained silent.

"I know you wanting to get back to your family as soon as you can. But as of right now you simply can't and I can't work miracles, unfortunately. I promise that once you are properly healed, you can go back to your family and apes," Nicholas said to the ape prince.

Blue Eyes lowered his gaze for a moment and thought it over once more. Heaving out a tired sigh, Blue Eyes glanced back up at the man and nodded slowly.

"Thank. You," Blue Eyes said in a tired voice.

Nick smiled and placed a hand upon Blue Eyes' shoulder.

"Get some rest. Before you know it, you'll be with your family again."

Blue Eyes then watched as the healer followed after the soldier and disappeared off into the distance as well. After a few quiet moments, Blue Eyes slowly lowered his gaze back down at the necklace in his hands. Looking at the fragmented pieces of the stone that were still holding together, Blue Eyes finally took the loop of the necklace and wrapped it around his necklace.

The ape prince felt like he was the stone itself. Shattered and broken into many pieces but still held firm, moving on with perseverance. With that in mind, Blue Eyes laid his head back down and closed his eyelids, letting rest come for him and heal him, so that he may return to his family as soon as he can.

...

You love him… don't you?

The Colonel's words kept on repeating itself within Caesar's mind as he tried to make sense of it all. What did he mean by that though? During his cruel punishment, Koba had pleaded to take his place instead, willing to bear the pain for what he himself had done. It just didn't make sense for Caesar, but the sound of Koba's desperate cries to him during his ordeal… there was quite something to the other ape's voice that Caesar himself couldn't quite pinpoint. Something that was… warm to it.

Letting his gaze wander to where Koba was, Caesar could see that the scarred bonobo on his knees, with his arms and legs tied behind him, around that wooden pole, head slumped forward. How long had they been there? Minutes? Hours? He guess that it mattered not. Not for the humans at least but if his sore limbs would say anything, it might as well have been days. Clearing his throat, Caesar made an attempt to at least make conversation at least.

"Koba?" Caesar called out in a soft gravelly voice.

At the call of the other ape's name, Caesar could see Koba stiffen slightly but did not raise his head up to meet his own.

"Koba. Look at me." Caesar said once more. "Please."

Caesar kept his gaze upon the other ape, hoping that Koba would listen to him. After a long while, Caesar could then see the other ape's shoulders rising, as Koba had taken in a deep shuddering breath. Then, ever so slowly, the bonobo lifted his head up, at the request. When Koba had lifted his head up toward him, Caesar could see that the bonobo was keeping a firm and neutral expression to show that he was strong. However, Caesar could see right past the bonobo by the slight breaths that the other ape took and sheen within those puffy red eyes. Caesar couldn't help but pity Koba slightly. The other bonobo had always put up a front to not show any form of weakness to others around him. But they all knew better. Even if Koba would to give a stern expression, his eyes always showed how vulnerable he was, no matter how he looked.

Koba suddenly dipped his head downward again, surprising Caesar.

"Everyone always look at me that way…" Koba said slowly as the sounds of apes working around them continued.

Caesar himself was even quiet for a moment, still processing on what he was going to do and or say to the other ape. Koba then raised his head again and gave Caesar a long hard look, with his only working eye.

"You're hurt," Koba said finally as he lowered his gaze once more. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."

Hearing Koba's quivering and emotional voice as he spoke only caused Caesar to feel terrible. Even after all that he's done to Koba, the other ape's main focus was to still apologize and worry for him? Why do this for him even after he himself had treated the bonobo so cruelly the past few days. He just couldn't quite understand it. Taking in a deep breath, Caesar calmed his own nerves before deciding to speak out again.

"No," Caesar said in a grave, but calming voice, causing Koba to glance back up at him. "Not your fault."

Upon hearing what Caesar had just said, a look of confusion crossed Koba's face. Not understanding why Caesar was suddenly reassuring him. Taking a deep breath, Caesar closed his eyes momentarily before opening them back up and aimed them at the bonobo tied to the wooden pole.

"Apes would have gone to war… eventually. Only a matter of time before it happened…" Caesar continued. "Both you and Luca were right. Humans would have eventually came for us. Always have and always will. This… where we are now... This is not your fault, but mine. I should have listened, should led the apes to our new home. Then maybe…"

Caesar paused for a moment as brief images of Cornelia and Blue Eyes flashed across his mind, causing him to dwell on his beloved lost family. Along with the images of Cornelia and Blue Eyes, Glade also came to mind. The young bonobo, full of life and love for Winter, was always an exceptional warrior among their ranks. Finally Luca formed as well and Caesar remembered his conversation with the silverback. Warning him that he was going much too far with Koba with his anger. Telling him to see the bigger picture… Then the question was asked.

Was he truly mad at Koba?

This was the very question that he kept asking himself as he and Luca had went further down the cliff. Was the bonobo the main source of all of his blame for what had transpired that night? The loss of his beloved family? But what Luca had said was right. Koba was not the main source of the danger that would have came and was not the one to take his family away from him. Yet, what was this boiling anger that Caesar still felt deep within his chest?

As he looked upon Koba, something dawned on Caesar and gave his mind a sense of clarity. Caesar could hear the Colonel's words being repeated back to him when he was captured.

I'm sorry. I was there for you.

The Colonel's main goal had been, and always was, on that night…

To kill him.

Caesar himself had chosen to leave their nest that night, put Blue Eyes in charge of protecting their family while he ran off. If he had stayed… if he had stayed, he would have prevented the deaths of his beloved family. Or die trying. The main cause of his anger and hatred…

Was at himself.

He was truly never mad at Koba. He was mainly angry with himself. Infuriated that he couldn't protect Cornelia and Blue Eyes from the Colonel. Causing himself to spiral out into anger and despair, wanting nothing else but the sweet grace of revenge for the deaths of his family. Koba, he had done nothing wrong when he had returned and was just another ape who was only there to be the main target of all of his anger and fury. One of the apes who were partly to be blamed for all of this… but the main fault of it all. Was his, and his alone.

Oh, what had he done?

"Caesar?"

At the sound of his name, Caesar blinked and a few tears fell down from his eyes as he glanced at Koba and could see the look of concern on the other ape's face.

"Koba?"

Confused, Koba looked Caesar over and was wondering on what on earth was happening to the chimpanzee. For a moment Caesar was talking to him but then a far off look overcame the ape leader's eyes and then… tears. Quite taken aback but the sudden tears, Koba had then called out to the chimpanzee that was tied to the cross.

Caesar stared long and hard at Koba, as if he were looking at something deep within him, searching. It was then when Caesar shut his eyes tightly before he opened them back up to reveal his golden-green irises, regained his composure and met Koba's own gaze.

"What did the Colonel mean… when he said that you loved me?" Caesar asked.

At the question, Koba's eyes widened momentarily before he lowered his head and and turned his gaze away in shame.

"Koba. What does he mean?" Caesar asked once more.

Caesar could hear Koba say something but the bonobo's words were hard to make out, causing Caesar to tilt his head. Koba's eyes darted in Caesar's direction momentarily before he exhaled deeply.

"You… and other apes were not supposed to know," Koba breathed out.

"Not… supposed to know?" Caesar repeated slowly, a frown forming on his face, not understanding on what Koba was meaning.

There was a pause and Caesar himself could see that Koba had his mouth slightly open, as if he were going to say something but couldn't.

"Koba?" Caesar called out to the other ape again. "Is what he said. True?"

Koba took in a deep shuddering breath and shut his eyes tightly again before opening them back up slowly. After a brief moment, Koba finally lifted his head up to meet Caesar's gaze. The heartfelt look that the scarred bonobo was giving Caesar, was all he needed to understand.

"When?" Caesar asked after a few heartbeats.

Koba features became somber, before he lowered his head slightly and averted Caesar's gaze once more, as memories started to fill his mind.

"Long time ago," Koba breathed. "When we were running from the humans and there was the loud fire in the sky. You, Cornelia and Herman fell into the river. All drowning and trying to breath through the smoke. We all saw you and went over to save you all from the river. I… I pulled you from the water" Koba continued as he lifted his head upward to meet Caesar's gaze. "When you woke… You… I… You said… that I was your brother. That we were family. Then you hugged me," he continued to explain as he met Caesar's gaze.

An endearing smile then formed upon Koba's lips as he gaze fell back toward the ground in front of him.

"That was when I…" Koba paused for a moment and slowly shook his head.

Caesar remembered that day well. He had thought that both he, Cornelia and the gorilla named Herman was going to drown that day as they crossed the river. It was soon after that he himself had came to, finding a very worried bonobo looking down at him. To be honest, Caesar himself could have not been more happy to see the bonobo's face, after such an event.

The more Caesar thought on Koba's words, the more things started to make sense to him.

"Why… Why did you not say anything?" Caesar asked, his voice slightly breaking.

Upon this question, Koba turned his head away from Caesar and a sad smile appeared on his lips.

"Because you had Cornelia," Koba simply stated. "Then Blue Eyes and Cornelius. And as long as you were happy… I was happy."

Hearing those words from Koba caused a sudden warmth and ache within Caesar's chest, and if he were standing on his legs, Caesar would have knew that they would have collapsed underneath him.

"I'm sorry Koba," Caesar sincerely apologized. "For the way I had treated you. I'm so sorry."

The hairs on Koba's body stood on end for a moment before he relaxed himself and glanced back up at Caesar and shook his head.

"Its okay," Koba replied.

"No. It is not," Caesar responded. "What I did to you… how I treated you… it is wrong. You should have never been the source of my anger. It was not right," he said shamefully.

Hearing Caesar say these words, caused Koba's eyes to slowly well up.

"Still my fault," Koba answered in a broken voice.

"No. Not all your fault remember?" Caesar spoke up. "It is mine too."

Caesar paused as he watched Koba, seeing the other bonobo looking at him intently.

"Please. Forgive me?" Caesar asked.

Hearing Caesar ask him for forgiveness was something oddly strange for Koba. Usually, it was the other way around, as he would step out of line most of the time. But now the roles were slightly reversed, in the way Caesar had been treating him and it caused a lump to form within Koba's throat. As Koba continued to stare, he could see that Caesar was still awaiting for his response. Unable to form any words at the moment, Koba closed his eyes and nodded his head, feeling his tears flow down his snout.

"Always forgive," Koba said quietly, causing Caesar to breath in relief. "Caesar… forgive Koba?" he then asked next.

Koba did not even need to ask Caesar, as his actions proved more than enough in the ape leader's eyes.

"Yes. I forgive you," Caesar said slowly, a warm smile spreading upon his lips.

* * *

 **If you guys don't understand the part where Koba talks about saving Caesar from the river, please do read the official novel "Planet of the Apes: Firestorm" to understand it all. You don't really need to, but you readers would be able to have a better context of what both Caesar and Koba are talking about, should you read it.**


	63. Chapter 63

As the day had moved on, Bad Ape carefully observed his new companions as they did something ever so terrible. For one reason or another, they had thought it best for all of them to move closer to the human zoo.

"No, no! Bad place! We must not go!" Bad Ape expressed his opinions on the decision vocally.

Of course, his cries and pleas only fell on deaf ears of the others as they carried two of the unconscious chimps from the snowy ground. The bigger chimp-whom he's called friend all of this time-glanced at him before the other ape's eyes darted down at the last unconscious one and back up to him. Standing there for a moment, Bad Ape himself very much considered turning around and simply just leaving, going back to his old simple life.

But was it worth it though?

In the two days that he's been with these other apes, others of his kind, Bad Ape himself has never felt so much more alive. If he were to abandon them now… what would that make him? He's already lost so much, what more could he lose?

He could lose his new friends.

Left with no other choice, Bad Ape heaved out a defeated sigh and bent down to pick up the last unconscious chimpanzee and braced the other ape behind him, piggy-back style. With a nod the bigger chimp then led the way down towards the human zoo. The shaggy one nodded in his direction once and followed along with the human child meeting his steps. Bad Ape closed his eyes tightly before he too adjusted the other heavy ape on his back and unsteadily trailed on after them.

When they had made their way toward the human zoo, Bad Ape couldn't help but notice that they were so very close now. Close enough to be spotted if they were not careful in keeping themselves discreet from the watchful eyes of the human soldiers. Once they had settled the others down, behind some stone hedges that jutted out just nearby the forest's side, Bad Ape rounded himself and observed his companions. The shaggy one was hand-speaking with his riding friend, both seeming to discuss among themselves of what to do as they kept glancing at their three new companions and then back at the compound behind the stone walls.

It was as if they were debating on whether they should go inside and or take care of the other three apes, but Bad Ape couldn't make out for sure.

Of all the time he had spent with his new friends, he could only pick up slightly on their way of speaking to one another, via hand gestures. He knew that by pointing at oneself and at other usually mean "I" or "you" among another handful of things. But if anything, he was a quick learner to decipher what they were trying to say, due to basic instinctual gestures too.

Letting his gaze fall back to the other three unconscious apes, Bad Ape was surprised to see the little human girl sitting next to them, gently petting their heads, as if the notion would calm their strained features. Curiously, Bad Ape made his way on over to where the little girl was and squatted right beside her. He observed the child as she seemed to understand that the others were in pain due to their terrible condition that they were in and was trying her best to soothe them. As the child glanced up at him, he could see the worry set within the girl's petite features. Bad Ape blinked once himself before he let his gaze fall back onto the three wounded chimpanzees, seeing their battered bodies.

"Bad humans," Bad Ape indicated as he gestured to the three apes. "Bad. Hurt them."

The child didn't respond but her concerned features was all that was needed to indicate how she felt about the situation that they were in.

Bad Ape sighed as he turned his attention back around to look at the other two friends and could see that they were still hand-speaking to each other. Several times the two apes would point in their direction and indicated gestured toward their mouth. If Bad Ape didn't know any better, and he was just assuming. It looked like his friends were arguing on trying to find something to feed their wounded friends by going into the compound. Of course that was a silly and terrible idea to even consider. The moment either of them had set one foot into the camp, they would be found out by the humans and surely be shot on sight.

There was nothing that they could do…

A startling snort from one of the unconscious apes caused both Bad Ape and the human girl to jump in surprise. Without even thinking, Bad Ape reached on over to where the little girl was and wrapped his hands over her protectively, pulling her back. As they watched, one of the chimpanzees-this one brown haired-opened his eyes slowly, revealing dark green colored irises. As the chimpanzee slowly regain his focus, his eyes widened before he suddenly sat up in surprise.

"No no no," Bad Ape said quickly as he held out a hand in front of him, while the other ape took a defensive stance. "Friend," he continued with a wry smile while patting his own chest. "Friend."

Huffing, the brown haired ape's eyes darted from the newcomer, to the little girl and then down to the side where he saw two other companion that were still unconscious. Looking around slowly the brown haired ape saw two familiar figures approaching him. Soon his features turned warm and welcoming at the recognition of two old friends.

" _Rocket? Maurice?_ " Grey signed slowly, eyes wide and not believing in what he was seeing.

Maurice gently nodded once in confirmation while Rocket quickly closed the gap and took a hold of Grey, as the brown haired chimpanzee lost the strength to stand any longer. Settling Grey down onto the snow covered ground, Rocket made sure that the other ape was well before easing away. Catching his breath for a moment, Grey turned to look up at both Maurice and Rocket, seeming as if he had many questions to ask but knew naught where to start.

" _Where did you all go?_ " Grey asked. " _You all suddenly left after Caesar._ "

" _We followed Caesar who was going after the Colonel. To many places beyond our protective forest,_ " Maurice started. " _But we are here now._ "

" _What happened?_ " Rocket jumped in instead.

Grey's dark green eyes turned to look at the other nearly hairless chimpanzee and frowned slightly. Grey lowered his gaze for a moment before he brought his gaze back up to both Rocket and Maurice's.

" _They… the human soldiers. They found us. Not long after you all left. They attacked us and we did our best to fight back… but there was nothing we could do,_ " Grey answered with shaky hands.

Maurice and Rocket glanced at each other quickly but turned their attention back to the brown haired chimp. It was then that Grey had recounted the events that had transpired for the apes. The long walk to the forced labor and torture from both humans and their traitor brethren.

" _They threatened to kill our children if we did not do what they say. So we did,_ " Grey continued, his whole body shaking now, not out of anger but rather out of fear for his family. " _Then Red found me. He took me away. Tried to hurt me… he couldn't"_ Grey continued explaining a spiteful look crossing his features. " _They took the others and tied them up. I was the last one… Please, we must save them._ "

After seeing Grey explain his story to the both of them, Rocket and Maurice glanced at one another in worry before the shaggier ape reached out and placed a hand upon wounded chimp's shoulder.

" _It is alright, Grey. We will save your family and the rest of the apes too,_ " Maurice reassured the brown haired chimpanzee.

Grey reached up and placed a hand over the orangutan's own, nodding slowly in gratitude. Grey's gaze then slowly wandered on over to where the new chimpanzee-dressed in human clothing-and little human girl stood.

" _Who are they?_ " Grey asked curiously.

" _Some new friends we found along the way,_ " Maurice answered.

...

Hours passed on by and Caesar hung upon the cross, with nothing but pain, hunger, thirst, and despair. His lips were were cracked and dry, while the welts on his back rubbed painfully against the wooden cross he was tied to, making any true rest or sleep impossible. He was not alone in this however, as Koba too, was in a similar position, causing him to lean forward and strain at his arms tied behind his back while he rested upon his knees. Legs that were now numb from the position or by the cold of the winter wind itself, chilling them to their bones. Soon enough a light drizzle of freezing rain came down upon them, soaking their fur in ever more cold than they both could have thought possible.

As darkness fell, dragging the temperature down with it. A diesel generator coughed noisily to life. Harsh security lights assaulted both Caesar and Koba's eyes as activity aroused around the two bound apes. The working apes themselves were slowly corralled back into the pens while soldiers moved different sets of machinery around the compound. Caesar and Koba were alarmed as they saw the human soldiers tolling some artillery toward the apes. Koba grunted as he adjust his kneeling position to crane around himself, to see what the humans were doing. Caesar however, feared that the humans were going to witness a bloodbath as the humans drew closer toward the apes with the heavy artillery.

But then Caesar noticed something that was quite odd.

The weapons were then pointed outward, away from the camp.

If not at the apes then, but at whom? Relieved to realize that the weapons were being placed to defend the canyon, not massacre his apes, Caesar himself grew perplexed.

"What are they doing?" Koba asked in a tired grave voice.

"I don't know," Caesar answered as he kept his eyes upon the artillery.

As both Caesar and Koba looked away from the soldiers preparations to see Red approaching them, gripping a machete in one hand. The vindictive expression on the gorilla's face promised nothing in the way of mercy for the once traitorous bonobo and the leader of said apes. Passing on by Koba, Red ascended the steps toward Caesar, while the bonobo struggled in his bindings. Stopping right in front of Caesar, Red glared at the ape leader.

Meeting Red's glare for a moment, Caesar slowly lifted his head as far as he could around himself and could see the shadowy figure of the Colonel staring down at the platform where he and Red stood.

"What did the Colonel promise you?" Caesar asked as he turned his head back to look at the gorilla. "You really think he will let you live… after we are gone?"

At these words, Red's acid-green eyes narrowed as his hair bristled aggressively, glaring murderously at his former leader.

"You let them call you "donkey." You are ape," Caesar reminded the gorilla.

Red lowered his arm, containing the machete and lifted it up into the air.

"No!" Koba shouted.

The blade within Red's hand came swinging down and sank into the wooden beam by Caesar's wrists, hacking through the ropes that held him there. Gasping in surprise, Caesar felt his sore arm fall down to his side. There was a slight pause before Red slowly turned back around to look down at Koba, seeing the scarred bonobo's eyes wide and still gaping in surprise in what he had thought turned out for the worst. Letting out an amused huff, Red turned back around to glare at Caesar again.

"Kena want see you," Red said.

…

Ash watched from within the pens as Caesar was chained up and led away from his tied up post. Wherever the traitorous ape was leading his uncle, he did not like it. His leafy green eyes followed the two and noticed that they were not joined by that other human soldier as well, before leading Caesar up to where the human Colonel was. The one who killed his honorary aunt and Blue Eyes.

Hearing a grunt behind him, Ash rounded himself slightly to see Winter looking at him. Poor Winter… these past few days had changed the once timid gorilla and now he had a cold air about him, much like the ice and snow. However, after Caesar's and Koba's outburst from earlier today had somewhat caused a familiar glint to return within the gorilla's eyes.

" _Where do you think they are taking him?_ " Winter asked as he too watched the others leading Caesar away.

" _I don't know,_ " Ash responded as he rounded his head to look back up at the Colonel's quarters before turning toward Winter again.

Winter noticed Ash staring and he narrowed his brows at the white flecked chimp.

" _What is it?_ " Winter asked.

" _Thank you. For trusting in Caesar and Koba again. For standing up for them and giving them another chance,_ " Ash signed.

Winter narrowed his eyes and glanced in the direction where their leader was led away before meeting Ash's gaze once more.

" _Glade would have forgiven the both of them… He would have wanted me to forgive as well,_ " Winter signed back slowly.

The white haired gorilla then turned around and sat on the cold hard ground, with nothing more to say. Ash breathed deeply as he looked at Winter and simply smiled sadly at himself. In the past few days, the gorilla had become cold and distant with nearly everyone that had approached him. Especially after the lost of Glade, whom he was mated to. But now, Ash was able to see a little bit of the old Winter returning. And maybe with that, it was just enough.

Leaving Winter be, Ash rounded himself back around to look up at the Colonel's keep and seeing Caesar disappear into it. He wondered why they had taken the older chimpanzee up there for? Instead, he then turned his attention on over to where Koba was tied and could see how miserable the scarred bonobo look in the distance, tied to a wooden poll.

All alone.

…

Escorted by Red and Preacher, Caesar was made to enter into the Colonel's command center. The young human kept his crossbow at the ready at any signs of rebellion from Caesar and of course, he was in chains once more, that were held onto by Red. As he made his way towards the Colonel though, Caesar himself could hear what sounded like music coming from within. When they finally entered into the Colonel's quarters, the man did not acknowledge their arrival. His back turned to Caesar, the man leaned over a long table on top of which a large map had been spread out, with a radio box sitting next to him. Spread out across the table, Caesar could see that the Colonel was overlooking what looked like to be pieces of various small things, all laid out in rows.

 _What did this all mean?_ Caesar thought to himself. _The layout… it looked a bit like war pla-_

"Interfere with the work again," the Colonel finally spoke up, snapping Caesar out of his thoughts, "and I'll begin slaughtering the apes, one by one. Especially that one that is tied up with you. Understand? I need that wall."

 _Need?_

"Apes need food and water," Caesar responded in a grave voice.

"They'll get food and water when they finish with their work," the Colonel answered as he set the piece he was holding down and slowly turned to face Caesar.

There was a brief silence between the two but Caesar met the man's eyes still.

"Give the apes food and water… or they they cannot finish-"

"You know, you are very emotional," the Colonel cut the chimpanzee off, "just like that one that is still tied down there… What makes you both think that the two of you are in a position to make any demands?"

At this, Caesar had no ready answer, so the Colonel went back to his map. Out of the corner of his eyes, Caesar could see Preacher taking a step forward and turning toward him.

"Okay, let's go," the young man said quietly.

Caesar knew and remembered of what Preacher had told him about the Colonel, to not provoke him. Hinting at dire possibilities if he exhausted the human commander's patience, but Caesar could care less at this moment.

"The soldiers who are coming here…" Caesar spoke up. "They are not coming to join you, are they?"

That statement got the Colonel's attention, causing the man to turned his head in Caesar's direction.

"I saw the men outside on the wall, preparing for battle," Caesar continued. "Your map… they are plans for your soldiers-"

"I was told you were smart..." the Colonel cut Caesar off in almost a appreciative tone. "But that right there… that's impressive."

The man paused briefly before confirming Caesar's suspicions.

"No, they won't be joining me," the Colonel finally explained.

Caesar care not of how the Colonel was so impressed with him. He had just wanted to understand the situation, for his ape's sake.

"They are against you?" Caesar asked.

"They fear me," the Colonel corrected Caesar.

"Why? Because you kill your own men?" Caesar continued noticing Preacher beside him tense up, not liking where this conversation is going. "We found bodies. Something wrong… with these men."

"Jesus Christ, you are impressive," the Colonel complimented as he fully turned around and leaned onto the table behind him for support. "Well, you paint quite a picture. What must you think of me," the man said as he turned back around to gaze down at his map.

"I think you have no mercy," Caesar answered.

The Colonel took in a deep breath and pondered for what seemed like ages before the man slowly turned back around to regard the leader of the apes and walked right up to the chimpanzee. His expression darkened.

"You came here to kill me. Were you gonna show me mercy?" he asked.

"I showed you mercy… when I spared your men. I offered you peace… and you killed my family." Caesar answered, never breaking eye contact with the man.

While Caesar had spoken to the Colonel, the man's face contorted into that of anger, disgust and fury. Turning away from Caesar, the man walked on back over toward the other table with another radio beside it, this one still playing some tune before it was abruptly turned off.

"Mercy. You have any idea of what your mercy would do to us?" The Colonel asked as he glanced back at Caesar momentarily, before fiddling with a small gas stove and turned it on. "You're much stronger than we are. You're smart as hell. No matter what you say, you'd eventually replace us. That's the law of nature."

As that was said, the Colonel turned to eye at Caesar who was staring back with a confused expression.

"And the irony is, we created you. We tried to defy nature, bend it to our will. Nature has been punishing us for our arrogance ever since," the man continued as he pulled out a sharp blade and held it into the air as he turned fully around to address the chimpanzee. "Ten months ago, we sent out recon units to look for your base. They found nothing. My own son was a soldier with one of the units. One day he suddenly stopped speaking. He became… primitive, like an animal. They contacted me and said that they thought he'd lost his mind, that the war was too much for him. But the man who cared for him stopped speaking too. Their medic had a theory before he stopped speaking: that the virus that almost wiped us out. The virus that every human survivor still carries… had suddenly changed. Mutated… and if it spread. It would destroy humanity for good this time. Not by killing us... but by robbing us of those… things that makes us human. Our speech, our higher thinking. It would turn us all into beasts."

While the man continued on, Caesar slowly understood that the virus that his own father-Will, had made, has mutated into something much far worse for humans. Now reducing the humans to nothing but mindless animals.

"You talk about mercy?" The Colonel suddenly asked, pointed the knife at Caesar in which he had cut a piece of fruit from and had just eaten it. "What would you have done?"

At this question, Caesar couldn't fathom of what he would done if he were in the Colonel's position. The himself couldn't imagine the mere idea of the apes turning back into simple minded beings as well. For once he was quite speechless.

"It was a moment of clarity for me. I realized that I would have to sacrifice my own son, so that humanity could be saved," Colonel said.

The man then looked at his hand with the knife for a moment before he continued.

"I held that gun in my hand for a long time. I pointed it at my only child," the Colonel paused for a moment a near look of emotion enveloping his features, if just momentarily. "He looked at me... Trust in his eyes... Even in his primitive gaze. I felt his… love."

There was a brief pause as the memories flooded the man's mind.

"I pulled the trigger," the Colonel finally said before turning his gaze up at Caesar. "It purified me. It made my purpose clear,"

Caesar still had no response. Knowing that the Colonel had killed his own son as well as Caesar's was almost enough to make Caesar pity the human before him, but only almost. He quite understood now, more than ever, just how ruthless this man was. If the Colonel could execute his own son, he was capable of anything. The glint of madness lurking in his eyes made perfect sense now. The Colonel killing his own son had twisted the man's mind somehow. The Colonel didn't realize it, but it seemed to Caesar himself that the man standing with his back turned toward him had already lost his humanity…

"I gave order to kill the other infected. All of them. Burn their belongings and anything that might spread contamination. Some of the men questioned my judgement. I was asking them to do what I had done. Sacrifice their friends… their family. Of course they refused… So, I had them killed too."

 _The Colonel will kill anyone, human or ape,_ Caesar thought to himself.

"Others with children deserted into the woods… One of those cowards fled to my superiors up north. They sent officers down to restrain me. They tried to convince me that this plague could be dealt with medically. That's when I realized that they had learned nothing… from our past," the man spoke as he took a drink out of his cup.

"You killed them too?" Caesar asked.

"What did I do, Preacher?" The Colonel asked as he lowered his cup from his mouth.

"You severed their heads, sir," Preacher answered.

Aghast, Caesar turned his head slowly to look at the young man beside him.

"Except for one I spared," the Colonel clarified. "So that he can return and deliver a message. One of them a man whom I've respected very much. Arthur Kane his name was. If that means anything to you… The message I sent was. If they wanted to relieve me of my command. They'd have to meet me here, and do it themselves."

 _Why here then?_ Caesar wondered. _Why this place?_

The Colonel responded to the chimpanzee's baffled expression. "This place used to be a weapons depot. They turned it into a relocation camp when the crises was just beginning. But the weapons are all still here, inside that mountain."

 _The artillery and other weapons that he and the other apes saw. That's where they came from._

"How many men will be coming?" Caesar asked the crazed man.

"Probably all of them. But don't get any ideas," the Colonel cut Caesar short. "The only thing they fear more than me is you apes."

The Colonel slowly made his way toward Caesar and stopped just a little ways in front of him.

"This is... a holy war," the Colonel declared. "All of human history has led to this moment. If we lose, we'll be the last of our kind. It will be a planet of apes… and we'll become your cattle."

Caesar tried to imagine what that future would be like and for a moment it seemed quite unsettling.

"Look at you," the Colonel suddenly said, noting the apes troubled visage. "You think I'm sick, don't you?"

The man the took a few steps closer toward Caesar and looked down upon him.

"I didn't mean to kill your son."

At this Caesar stiffened.

"But if his destiny was to inherit your unholy kingdom," the Colonel said of Blue Eyes, "then I'm glad I did."

The Colonel's callous words unleashed the fury Caesar had been carrying since he'd lost his wife and son. All thought of caution, patience and self-preservation fled from his mind as he lunged for the Colonel, reaching for his throat. The startled human threw himself backward barely in time, landing onto the floor with a hard crash. Red hauled on Caesar's chain with both hands, yanking the furious chimpanzee backwards with all of his strength. Preacher on the other hand was crying out frantically before he resorted to pulling up the crossbow gun within his hands and aimed it at the ape leader.

Caesar strained hard against the chains and collar that was choking him, but Red was too strong and he too weak after his ordeals. Consumed by rage, he growled and bared his fangs at the Colonel, maddened by the need to lash out at the insane human who had murdered his family without any regret. Furious that the man dared to brag about killing his his dear son.

Shaken by his close call, the Colonel recovered, staggering onto his feet and regarded Caesar whom was still fuming on the spot.

"So emotional!" the Colonel said aloud, throwing his hands up into the air and mocking the ape leader.

The colonel paused for a moment while placing a hand on his head before finally turning to address Caesar.

"I can see how conflicted you are. You are confused in your purpose and you're angry at me for something I did. That was an act of war. But you're taking this all much too personally," the Colonel explained.

The man then walked toward Caesar, seeming unconcerned for his own safety. Caesar on the other hand gasped, tortured by the agonizing bindings and collar that was choking him, preventing him from his revenge.

"What do you think my men would have done to your apes… if you had killed me?" The Colonel asked.

Despite his burning fury, Caesar paused for a moment and grasped what the Colonel was saying. Killing the Colonel now would surely cause all of the other apes to be slaughtered in retaliation. Was his own revenge worth the lives of his very own apes? Whom he swore to protect?

Like his little Cornelius. His son's beloved Lake. Tinker, Ash, all of them. And… Koba.

"Or is killing me more important than the lives of your own apes?" the Colonel asked, seeing that Caesar had gotten the message.

As much as Caesar would have wanted to, he would gladly sacrifice his own life to destroy the Colonel and rip him apart… but was he willing to sacrifice the lives of his apes as well? All whom were still waiting and depending on him.

With titanic effort, the ape leader restrained himself, lowing his arms as he still met the man in the eyes. Even so, no matter how Caesar had looked at the situation, the Colonel had bested him in every way. No matter what he would have done, the outcome would have been too great for him. His revenge… or his apes... With that in mind, his struggle dwindled and nothing but a deep sinking feeling within his chest filled the void. Causing his muscles to slacken beneath his skin.

The Colonel stared Caesar down just a moment longer before he brusquely dismissed Preacher and Red. With a harsh tug from the chain within Red's hands, they led the defeated chimpanzee leader back down into the yard. The chill of the night came as a shock after the shelter of the Colonel's lair.

An unhappy Preacher shook his head as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Didn't I tell you to back off?" the young man said in a angry tone.

As they walked on, Caesar lifted his eyes to look at Preacher.

"If this battle is coming," Caesar said to the young human soldier, "you should leave while you still can."

"Leave?" Preacher stopped and turned to stare at Caesar. "What are you talking about?"

A confused look crossed Caesar's features momentarily before he addressed the young man gently.

"You are not like him."

Preacher reacted as though he had been slapped across the face.

"He was right, you do think he's sick, don't you?" Preacher said suddenly in a harsher tone at Caesar, surprising the chimpanzee. "You're just like them. He's not crazy. The world's gone crazy. And he's the only one with the vision to get us through this. He sacrificed everything for us. You can't judge him. Who are you to judge him?"

Preacher's face was flushed with anger.

"I was trying to give you a heads-up, keep you out of his way. I… I don't even know why. But if you think you and I have some sort of relationship… that you're gonna give me, what, advice? You can disown yourself of that notion right fucking now."

Preacher's malign response had stunned Caesar-and disappointed him.

In the young man, Caesar thought that maybe Preacher could have been like Will or Malcolm. But now… he could see that the soldier was very much like the Colonel himself.

Preacher gestured with his crossbow, sneering at the disillusioned chimpanzee. Whatever compassion he'd displayed had evaporated completely. Or maybe it had never really run as deep as Caesar had let himself hope.

"Move it, Kong," Preacher ordered, harshly shoving Caesar along.

Koba lifted his head as he heard footsteps approaching him. Breathing deeply, Koba could see a defeated looking Caesar being let by both Red and some human soldier that he did not like.

"Caesar!" Koba called out to the ape leader who did not meet his eyes as he was led back to the cross.

Growling, Koba began struggling in his bindings but they proved to be for naught as it hardly did any dent into the pole that he was tied to. After a moment the other two had finished stringing Caesar back up onto the cross and Koba couldn't help but kept his seething eyes upon both Red and the human soldier as they descended and walked away. Scowling at their back, Koba quickly rounded his head back toward Caesar to see what they had done to the ape leader.

"Caesar?" Koba said quietly.

Caesar spared Koba a momentary glance and that was all the scarred bonobo needed to see that they had done something terrible to the ape leader. The chimpanzee's eyes were red, puffy and glossy from unshed tears. His body language read nothing but a broken individual, one that Koba was no stranger to. But not used to seeing up upon Caesar himself.

What did they do to Caesar? Why did he look so defeated?

As Caesar's gaze fell away, Koba was about to call out to his friend again but held his tongue. Instead he was silent and simply watched as the chimpanzee grew distant from all around him. And Koba's heart ached dearly for the other ape.

…

With a deep gasp, Blue Eyes shot up from his sleep into a sitting position. Gasping for air, he quickly looked around his surroundings, only to find himself sitting in the middle of an empty ward, filled with dark odd shapes that were alien to an ape like him. Still breathing heavily, Blue eyes reached up with one hand and held onto the necklace that Lake had given him, holding the broken gemstone right over his pounding chest. Closing his eyelids, Blue Eyes tried to calm his nerves as best as he could…

The nightmares however, of what had happened to him… they were all still so fresh within his mind. All so very real.

Everytime Blue Eyes had shut his eyes, he could see the scenario reply over and over again within his mind. A dark silhouette of a human with nothing but a green beam of light from their outstretched limbs. The screams of his mother as she jumped down in front of him, accompanied by the reports of gunfire. Him laying down on the cold stone floor beside his dear mother, her features relaxed as she laid in a pool of red with him. Then it all faded to darkness.

This kept repeating over and over within his mind and Blue Eyes couldn't help but grimace as he reached up with his other free hand and placed it over his bandaged head. Gritting his teeth, Blue Eyes grunted as he pressed his fingers tighter into the bandages, wanting nothing more than to claw at the throbbing pain that was searing the left side of his skull. It hurt so much that Blue Eyes couldn't help himself as he whimpered quietly aloud, causing a few tears to fall from his eyes.

Mother…

All of a sudden, Blue Eyes felt small pressures behind his back and over his hand that was on top of his head. Blinking his eyes open, Blue Eyes' head shot up and to his surprise, he saw Nick looking down at him with concern. The human with pale blue eyes furrowed his brows at Blue Eyes and seemed to have given him a knowing look before he turned his head away slightly.

"Max, can you get us some water?"

The other man whom also had a worried expression set on his face, nodded quickly before he left the room that they were all in. Nick then rounded himself back to look down at Blue Eyes and offered a calming smile.

"It's okay, Blue Eyes. You're safe here. I promise," Nick said reassuringly.

The man had said this to Blue Eyes so many times, the ape prince thought he would get annoyed or tired of hearing it. But to the contrary, it did the opposite and only seemed to have had a calming effect on him, especially in the condition he is in right now.

Taking several deep breaths, Blue Eyes slowed down his breathing and relaxed his muscles, enough so that Nick was able to gently take the ape prince's arms and placed them down onto the sheets covering the chimp's lap. The human healer glanced Blue Eyes once over as he sat there before he pulled a chair from the side and sat down in it.

"You… want to talk about it?" Nick asked.

Blue Eyes considered the man's offer for a moment before he slowly lowered his gaze and shook his head.

He was not ready to talk about such a thing. Especially in front of humans.

Nicholas didn't push the subject and simply nodded in respect to what Blue Eyes wanted. In this regard, Blue Eyes respected the human healer for this. Nick was not one to push for answers and was quite patient when waiting for answers from either both Blue Eyes and or Max.

"Well… if you need someone to talk to. Or for anything, I'm just around the corner," Nick said quietly.

Blue Eyes nodded slowly and with that both he and Nick heard Max returning with a bucket of fresh clean water. During this time, Nick had procured some towels that were dipped within the cool refreshing water and offered them to Blue Eyes. Max for the most part stayed around for a while before the man yawned and lumbered back to their own sleeping quarters. Nicholas however, stayed a little longer and made sure that Blue Eyes was alright first before taking his leave as well.

"Why do you do this?" Blue Eyes suddenly asked as the red haired man had just turned around, causing him to stop in his tracks and turned around to look at the ape prince. "Why help me?" Blue Eyes asked again.

"Because it's the right thing to do," Nick answered immediately with no hesitation within his voice.

At this Blue Eyes blinked and looked down off to the side, mulling the man's words over and over within his mind.

"Get some rest," Nick suddenly spoke up, causing Blue Eyes to glance back up at the man. "I don't know what exactly happened to you and am not going to ask what gave you those wounds. But I just want you to know that I'm here, if you need me. I will do whatever I can to help."

Blue Eyes could feel the sincerity within the human healer's voice, as if he meant every single word that was said. Huffing quietly, he then nodded slowly in acknowledgement of Nicholas' words. The man then silently walked away and turned down the soft light to give the dark room a gentle glow. Settling back down within the bed that he was in, Blue Eyes closed his eyelids once more.

For the first time since that night, the terrible imagery did not come to him and instead they were filled with genuine memories, long since past, of better and simpler times.


	64. Chapter 64

Rocket couldn't help but growled under his breath as, through the binoculars within his hands, he watched Red and an armed human march Caesar past the soldier's barracks. One by one the lights within the camp disappeared, signaling that the humans were retiring for the evening, after a long day of supervising the apes' slave labor. Letting his low rumble continue on, Rocket then directed his sights to the pens and tried to pinpoint where his family was located at. Through the darkness and huddling shadows, he could not make any sign of them out and with a grunt, Rocket quickly turned away, frustrated of not being able to find Tinker or Ash.

" _How are they?_ " Maurice signed at Rocket.

At the question, Rocket had shut his eyes tightly before he shook his head dolefully. From what he could see, many of the apes were resting within the pens and both Caesar and Koba were tied to the platform and pole within the middle of the camp for all to see. The former ape did not look too well, but as least Caesar was still alive. Koba on the other hand seemed to be doing fine, if not a bit weary since Rocket had last saw him. Luckily there were no other casualties from the other apes.

" _They refuse to give apes food and water. Much longer like this and they may all die._ " Grey perked up slowly from his spot behind the two.

At this, Rocket was not sure on how they could rescue Caesar and Koba, let alone the rest of the apes, but he knew they could not do it by lurking off by the forest's side, especially with their own wounded.

" _We must get closer,_ " Rocket concluded quickly.

" _Closer? They will see us all!_ " Grey warned.

" _Not if we stick close to the shadows,_ " Rocket reassured.

Grey seemed unconvinced of the bulkier chimp but said nothing else as he leaned back onto a tree for support. Maurice on the other hand seemed a bit skeptical of the idea but didn't argue on the idea as well.

" _We need someone to stay here and watch the others. In case they wake up. We can't all just go,_ " Maurice signed to the both of them.

" _Then Grey stays and we go,_ " Rocket decided.

" _Me?!_ " Grey signed.

" _Yes. With your injuries, you will only put us in danger,_ " Rocket bluntly explained.

Grey couldn't help but narrow his eyes into dark slits as he slowly bared his fangs in anger. Maurice had a worried look upon him but Rocket stood his ground and meant what he said.

" _Please Grey,_ " Maurice stepped in, knowing that they don't need to start arguing who goes and stays. " _We need you to do this. I know you want to come with us but as of right now…_ "

Letting his dark green eyes wander toward Maurice, Grey considered both the orangutan and other chimp's words for a moment before heaving out a deep sigh, his breath fogging up the air.

" _Fine… I will stay. Rocket is right. I will only put us in danger,_ " Grey admitted, even though he did not want to.

Rocket reached out and placed a hand upon the brown haired chimp's shoulder and nodded at him.

" _I'm sorry,_ " Rocket signed apologetically. " _If there was any other way. I would have liked your help._ "

" _I know…_ " Grey gestured back with a grim frown.

This was enough for Rocket as he nodded at the brown haired chimp before gesturing to the others and bounded away. Grey watched as the other apes and the human child followed after Rocket, leaving him to watch over both the still unconscious Andy and Spear.

…

Ash kept vigil as he sat within the pens with the others, all still chained to one another. He had perked up when he noticed that Red and one of the human soldiers had brought Caesar back to the base of the platform, where he was strung up before. Ash himself was relieved to see that his honorary uncle was still alive, but his spirits sank a bit further at the sight of Caesar. The ape leader was dragged about on a heavy chain and stood stoically at the bottom of the steps as Red unshackled his wrists under the watchful gaze of the soldier, armed with a vicious-looking crossbow. Frowning, Ash eyed the human soldier hard before he set his gaze upon Caesar and couldn't help but wince inwardly as he could see the ugly welts crisscrossing the older chimp's backside. An image that was not new for him at all.

Like the few others, Caesar was suffering for their sake… for what little good it does.

A few of the apes had also noticed Caesar returning and had pressed themselves against the bars of the pens that they were in, watching Caesar's ordeal. Like Ash himself, many of the apes were very tired, hungry and thirsty, without any hope within them. Caesar and Koba had tried to protest their treatment before and had briefly inspired them to stand up to the humans, but look what has now become the two apes.

Caesar had then lifted his face up slightly and regarded the apes, taking the sight of his own kind penned up like the animals that they once were. The sorrowful expression upon the ape king's face, caused Ash's own heart to become heavy. He watched as honorary uncle was led to the platform, Red removing the ape leader's shackles and was then ordered to go up to the wooden X that awaited him. Ash could see that Caesar was very weak and in pain, his shoulders slumping as he started up the steps. During his climb, Caesar had lost his balance a little and had accidentally stumbled backward into the human soldier, who shoved him away forcefully, as though repulsed by the very feel of an ape body against his.

"Get off of me!" the human had said.

Ash couldn't help but bare his ivory fangs, hackles rising on his body when he heard the sheer disgust and anger within the human's voice. It made him want to beat the ever living life out of the soldier for saying such a thing to Caesar, whom had only slipped due to how weak he already was. Alas, Ash could do nothing as he watched helplessly while Red yanked violently on Caesar's chain and let him up the icy steps to the cross.

While Red and the human soldier tied Caesar to the cross once more, Ash couldn't help but notice Koba struggling against his own bindings, doing his best to break free and go to their king's side. Ash couldn't help but feel a bit sympathetic to his scarred honorary uncle while they tied up Caesar. After they were done and had left the platforms, did Ash hear Koba faintly calling out to the ape king. He could see Caesar sparing Koba just a momentary glance before turning his gaze away, causing the scarred bonobo to go quiet himself and simply watch the defeated chimpanzee.

Ash did not know how long they stayed like that but eventually he had let out a soft hoot, only catching Koba's attention, who glanced his way.

" _Don't give up!_ " Ash signed from where he stood. " _Do not lose hope! Some way, somehow, we will all get out of this! We will all get through this together and finish our journey to our new home. We will find a way!_ "

After Ash had finished signing, the young chimp kept his eyes upon the two older tied up apes, hoping that his signs had at least gotten through to Koba, even if Caesar did not look at him. Blinking, Ash kept his eyes upon Koba as the scarred bonobo kept his gaze upon him. He knew naught what they had done to Caesar when they took him away, causing him to be so distant all of a sudden. But they needed to be strong now, for everyone. To show that apes were still full of life and will do what they can in order to survive.

Koba seemed to have dipped his head, causing concern to form upon Ash's features. However, the scarred bonobo then suddenly lifted his head back up, a determined look set within his golden-green and milky white eyes. The older ape's face hardening, Koba nodded in agreement with what Ash had signed to him. This caused a spark of hope to light back up within the younger chimp and he turned his attention to Caesar whom was still closed off from the rest of them.

At first it didn't seem as if Caesar had known what Ash was signing to Koba, but the ape king had turned his attention slowly toward the younger chimp. Even in his broken state, with whatever the Colonel had done to him, Ash had done something to light something within the defeated ape king. That something was a spark of hope that bloomed within Caesar and the younger chimp could see the become brighter and brighter behind his honorary uncle's eyes. Caesar did not say anything but still, he met the younger chimp's hopeful gaze.

" _Trust,_ " Ash signed slowly as a warm smile spread upon his white-flecked lips. " _Trust._ "

…

Rocket and the others hid among the heaps of rubble that ran along the edge of the campgrounds. Darkness was their ally, despite the searchlights and guard towers that loomed just overhead. Moving furtively, they all snuck along the base of the huge wall until they found a gap where the constructions had recently collapsed. Keeping low, the four of them peered around the fallen rocks and timbers to spy on the camp's interior. It was there they all saw where many of their apes were and it did not look so well.

Anger burned within Rocket's chest as he saw Caesar strung up on the platform with Koba tied to a singular wooden pole at the bottom. They were both displayed like trophies while the rest of the apes were all chained and locked up within the pens next to them. He was reminded of the cage that he had once been kept in, back at the primate shelter in the city, before Caesar had freed him and the others. Seeing apes in cages once more, after all their years of struggle and accomplishments, sickened Rocket to his very core.

 _Never again_ , he had vowed to himself.

Turning his eyes upward, Rocket scoped out the sentries on the guard towers, trying to figure out the best way to slip past them and get to Caesar, Koba, his family and the others.

"Listen!" Bad Ape warned suddenly, catching all of their attention.

The sudden sound of approaching footsteps was now very apparent, approaching from inside the camp. This caused a sudden panic among the small group and they all turned around, scrambling away from their secluded spot among the rubble and away from the wall. They all dashed across the expanse towards some stone blocks about a hundred feet away. Hearts pounding, they hastily hid behind the squared objects and ducked for cover, just as some humans were marching out of the campsite to patrol the surrounding terrain.

There was a sigh of relief from all of them. That had been a close call indeed; if they had been just a little slower, they would have been spotted for sure. Both Rocket and Maurice then peered from behind their hidden spot at the heavily guarded prison camp.

" _Soldiers everywhere!_ " Maurice gestured. " _How would we get in?_ "

Rocket sniffed loudly and hardened his gaze, refusing to be deterred.

" _Must get in somehow,_ " the bulky chimp signed back. " _Must get in!_ "

Bad Ape had watched the two apes in front of him anxiously, studying their finger movements and interpreting their signs. Confusingly, he then tapped Rocket on the shoulder and pointed at the human zoo in front of them. A worried expression set upon the smaller chimpanzee's features.

"In? In?" Bad ape asked hesitantly.

At this both Maurice and Rocket had turned to their smaller companion and both grunted, nodding in unison to answer the chimpanzee.

"No!" Bad Ape exclaimed suddenly, alarming the other two as his eyes went wide with panic. "No go in! No-"

Before Bad Ape even finished, he had already turned around and skittered away from them. Baffled by the sudden action, Rocket, Maurice and the human child had no choice but to follow the distressed chimp Bad Ape, in his haste, had then led them to some stone outcroppings that were further out from the campsite. The moment they had all hidden from the outside world, the others watched as Bad Ape had rounded himself and was backing away fearfully. Taking a moment, both Rocket and Maurice had turned their heads slightly back around to see if they were spotted or being followed.

"Friends!" Bad Ape pleaded desperately as he continued walking backwards. "Friends! No go in! No go in-"

Without warning, there was an abrupt cracking sound and Bad Ape suddenly dropped out of sight, his hysterical voice trailing off as the ground opened up beneath him. Aghast, both Rocket and Maurice rushed on over to where Bad Ape was just standing only moments before… and to their surprise, they found him hanging on the lip of a deep, dark pit that they both swore was not there before.

"Friend! Friend!" Bad Ape grunted as he reached out with his free hand.

Rocket reached down and grasped Bad Ape's forearm. Grunting, he pulled the smaller chimp out of the pit, while hoping that more of the ground would not give way beneath them. Thankfully, the snow-covered earth stayed where it was and did not collapse.

"Thank you, friend!" Bad Ape thanked Rocket when he was back on solid ground.

Seemingly ignored of his gratitude, Bad Ape followed Rocket's gaze and could see the dark looming hole in which he was just pulled out from. An old rope ladder hung down the side of the pit, staked to one of the frozen dirt sides of the hold. The ladder descended into the utter blackness at the bottom.

Rocket glanced up at Maurice and both seemed to have come to the conclusion that this spot must have been hidden before Bad Ape came and inadvertently stepped on it, revealing its location. Exchanging knowing looks, they both were intrigued by the new discovery that their distraught companion had just found a new entrance for them. Maybe, just maybe... they had just found a way to get past the guards and into the campsite to free their friends and families.

"What?" Bad Ape asked as Maurice and Rocket turned to look at him, slight grin appearing upon the bulkier chimpanzee's face.

Bad Ape watched as Rocket signed something to Maurice before turning to face him. The lanky chimp received a few pats on the arm from Rocket before he quickly darted away, off into the direction of the forest.

"Where he go?" Bad Ape asked curiously as he watched Rocket leave all of a sudden while Maurice simply held onto the child's hand and waited.

…

The sounds of the running motors, clicks, scraps and heavy footsteps jolted Koba from what meager sleep he had managed to have obtained while tied to the pole. Every muscle on his body ached as he moved, his limbs tied still, behind his back. Feeling more dead than alive, Koba groggily lifted up his head at the strange mixture of sounds, to see what was going on.

There by the pens, Koba could see that both human soldiers and turncoat apes stood at the bars, rousing the apes to all stand up on their feet. Eyeing them, Koba was quite confused as to what they were doing and turned slightly up to look at Caesar, who was still tied up on the cross, atop of the platform. The ape leader however, had leaned back slightly and turned his head. Following Caesar's gaze, Koba could see that his friend was eyeing the wretched human Colonel, whom was looking down at them on his walkway outside his watchtower. He couldn't help but feel disgusted at the sight of the human and merely set his lips in a thin line while he glared at the man.

With a simple nod from the Colonel, a whistle sounded off, catching Koba's attention and drawing him away from the bald human. All of a sudden a dark fabric was yanked off of one trailer, revealing dry oats and barley.

Was that… animal feed?

The turncoat apes then took small pails and scooped up moundfuls of the grains and tossed it unceremoniously into the pens where the apes were at. These were met with cries and screeches as famished apes quickly caught onto what was happening and they all jumbled close by the bars, catching the feed that were tossed to them and hungrily ate at them. Next were the toting pails of water, which were distributed to the apes, whom hungrily gulped down the refreshing cool drink as if their lives depended on it.

Koba hated the fact that the apes were being fed with food that were meant for animals. Made him sick to his stomach at how the apes were still being treated like this. However, they were still given food nonetheless and he was smart enough to not open his mouth to stop the apes from seeking nourishment, whatever it may be.

Watching them all hungrily eat in front of him though, Koba couldn't help but feel his stomach growl fiercely at the sight. He was more than just hungry, he was absolutely starving. However, the longer Koba watched the apes hungrily eat and drink desperately, he himself remembered that they had been starved for so much longer than he or Caesar had been. How selfish was he to think of only himself when others had suffered so much more than he did.

They deserved to be fed first.

From among the feeding frenzy a couple of chimpanzees made their way to the front of the pens and turned their attention up to Caesar. These two were none other than Lake and Tinker, the two females beaming with prideful gazes.

" _Caesar, you saved our lives!_ " Tinker signed emotionally as she scooped up a handful of grain and deposited it into the younger female's outstretched hands, whom showed it to the ape leader.

In her brief moment of gratitude toward her good friend, Tinker's gaze slowly wandered on over to where Koba was. Meeting the eyes of the one ape who had tried to murder her son so long ago, the world seemed to have slowed between the two. Tinker was unsure of what to say to the scarred bonobo. Even if it had been years, even if her mate and Ash had vouched that Koba had changed. That still did not change the fact that Koba had tried to kill her very own flesh and blood in his crazed state. In all honesty, she still held high resentment toward the scarred bonobo. Fearing deep down that he, like before, could snap and hurt anyone else, someone else that was close to her.

However, during recent events, Tinker had seen a bit of good within Koba, if she had to admit it. Especially when he ventured back with Caesar and stood up to the Colonel for them. Not only that, Rocket had told her how Koba was the one to keep the group safe when they were traveling. Still, she had doubts and many conflicted emotions about the tied up ape and was still not sure on how she should feel about it. In the end, Tinker had instead offered Koba a silent but thankful nod. Koba on the other hand, had lowered his eyes as a look of shame appeared upon his features, but nodded back nonetheless.

Hearing heavy footsteps close by, Koba turned his head upwards and could see that Red had ascended up the steps toward Caesar, with pail of water in hand. The rusty haired gorilla paused before Caesar and looked up at the Colonel, who gazed down on them from his tower. Red slowly lifted the pail toward Caesar's dry lips. Reluctant at first, Caesar was skeptical of the offering from the renegade gorilla who had whipped him so savagely less than a day ago. But Caesar's own parched throat and ravaged body craved relief, so he swallowed his pride and parted his lips.

Then without warning, Red tipped the bucket. Dumping the precious water over Caesar's head and body, drenching him in a flash of freezing cold. Shocked by the sudden notion, Caesar couldn't help but sputter and cough. In his surprised state, Caesar couldn't help himself but heave deeply at the sudden cold, hearing Koba's angry bellows and cries from below. Red had turned to glare down at the once ape traitor before rounding himself back around to regard Caesar once more, seeing his sorry state. The turncoat gorilla snorted once in an unamused tone before moving away, leaving Caesar to his distress.

Caesar's own features hardened and he glared balefully at Red's backside with bloodshot eyes. He knew, however, that this was not the gorilla's idea. Lifting his eyes, he stared angrily at the Colonel, who simply watched in silence from his balcony above. The man had then silently retreated back into his lair, leaving his soldiers to run the rest of the operation.

 _This was his plan,_ Caesar thought to himself.

Returning his gaze, Caesar watched as one of the turncoats had taken a pail of water and splashed its contents all over the tied bonobo as well, only succeeding in angering Koba more. Another sadistic joke that the Colonel was playing with both of them.

Eventually, both adults and children were given feed and water before everything was taken back and they were made to work again. Caesar and Koba on the other hand, were not given any food. They were only left to their bindings for the rest of the day as punishment.

…

A beam of light pierced the inky blackness of the forgotten underground tunnel. Maurice held the light as he, and a grunting Rocket cleared away more of the rubble blocking the way ahead. It was hard, laborious work, but the two apes had been at it for some time now; several yards of tunnel stretched behind them, all the way back to the bottom of the pit. Rocket shoved aside another rock that blocked the way and then paused to inspect their surroundings.

" _Looks like it caved in here,_ " Rocket signed and he turned back around and picked up his flashlight from the floor of the tunnel.

Maurice nodded in agreement. Using the flashlight in his hands, he peered past the obstructions they had just cleared. Debris of all sorts littered the ground of the tunnel, which led away into the darkness. Rounding himself to the opposite end of the tunnel, he couldn't make out much difference as well.

" _It keeps going,_ " Maurice signed back to Rocket. " _Wonder how far?_ "

Hearing shuffling behind him, Maurice turned back around and noticed that Rocket was looking at the walls of the tunnel. Curious, Maurice approached the nearly hairless chimp and stood by his side. There they could both see that something was written in big letters.

 _THIS WAY OUT OF HELL_.

Inspecting the words, a thought crossed Maurices' mind and he then shone his light back down the tunnel.

" _What does it mean?_ " Rocket asked, not understanding.

" _Sick humans..._ " Maurice signed in wonder as he looked to and fro. " _Must have escaped down here. To get away from the human zoo,_ " he concluded.

…

From the far end of the tunnel, Bad Ape watched the beams of the flashlights recede down the underpass as he fidgeted anxiously at the bottom of the pit. When Rocket had returned with a couple of flashlights that they had, Bad Ape was not at all convinced that exploring the tunnel was a good idea; he only descended into the pit after the other apes because he did not want to be left alone on the surface. Especially so close to the human's bad place. They really should have just stayed by the forest side with the other three apes.

Glancing around nervously, Bad Ape pined for the comfort and safety of his former home in the mountains. It was good to have friends again. Others, just like him. Especially after being alone for so so long. It was a complete marvel that Caesar and the others had found him in the mountains in the first place. After learning as to why they were there, he had wanted to help them. Help them find the bad human, the "Colonel," who had killed Caesar's child. Much like how he lost his very own… However, now Caesar himself and the other one, Koba if Bad Ape remembered Caesar calling out the scary one's name, are now both prisoners and they were all in danger. Seeing the other three apes and how wounded they were, Bad Ape feared of what the humans would do to them, should they be found out.

Yet here they were, taking more chances. Meaning that it was only a matter of time before they were all found out.

Breathing deeply through his nostrils, Bad Ape recalled how the other apes' peculiar way of talking with their hands and fingers baffled him. It was strange. Different and a bit alien to him but still they communicated like so. However, little by little, he slowly understood that Rocket and Maurice intended to free Caesar, Koba and their other friends and families, despite his warnings to stay away from the human zoo. Bad Ape really wished that the prisoners could be saved, too, but trying to find a way into the camp was not a smart thing to do. It was a bad idea. Bad, bad, bad-

A scrabbling noise, along with the sounds of falling dirt, made Bad Ape spin around to check on the human girl, whom Maurice and asked Bad Ape to look after. His eyes bulging in alarm as he saw the child climbing the rope ladder back toward the surface. Snowflakes fell from above, drifting past her.

"No, no, no!" Bad Ape panicked as he rushed toward the ladder, calling out to her. "No! No climb!"

Unlike the other apes, the little girl did not listen to him and continued to clamber up the ladder, almost as agilely as any ape child. Finally the little human child had climbed out of the pit, leaving Bad Ape quite flustered and distraught at the bottom. Clutching his head and turning around, Bad Ape made several meager pant calls, torn as to what to do.

He was still entirely not sure why the other apes had a human child, but he knew she was not safe up there by herself, which meant he had no choice but to follow her.

Maurice had asked him to watch her.

Muttering unhappily, he reluctantly climbed the ladder after the human child. Emerging from the pit, Bad Ape found that the sky had already darkened, setting into the usual dusk before the night. Has it been a full day already? In his brief moment, Bad Ape suddenly realized why he was out here again and looked about frantically to see where the human child was. To his surprise, Bad Ape saw the girl's silhouette wandering on over toward the edge of the stones that hid them.

"Wait! No!" Bad Ape said quickly as he hopped out of the pit and quickly followed after the girl.

As soon as he stood next to the girl, Bad Ape was panting worriedly. He noticed that the child was squinting at something beyond the fallen boulders that shielded them from view. Bad Ape's eyes darted from the boulders, back to the child quickly before he crept forward to see what she was looking at. If she could see anything out in this dusk

"What?" Bad Ape whispered. "What you see?"

…

Making their way through the dark passageways, both Maurice and Rocket continued to explore the network of it all. Finding themselves at one particular area, the two of them stopped a moment to rest.

" _Wonder where we are?_ " Maurice asked.

Not sure, Rocket shrugged as he looked around the area and could see nothing but walls and what looked like a collapsed passageway. Meaning that this section of the tunnel was unusable as it was closed off. Letting his eyes wander upward though, both he and Maurice could see what looked like a hole up at the ceiling of the tunnel. The two apes quickly looked at one another as they noticed this.

" _Up there?_ " Rocket indicated with a finger.

" _Lets try,_ " Maurice agreed.

Positioning himself, Maurice let Rocket climbed upon his shaggy back as the heavy chimp rose upwards and started to claw at the hole in the ceiling of the tunnel. He was very tired, especially with helping Rocket clear much of the passageway as they ventured through the tunnel and figured that the chimp must be as well. However, Caesar, Koba and the others needed them. Hearing Rocket work away above him without giving up, gave Maurice enough strength to support his friend without any complaint, making sure that they all leave this dreaded place safely… and alive.

As Rocket worked away and Maurice being a pillar to support him, a slurry of ice, dirt and gravel finally spilled from above, showering the two in the muk. The faint light of the sun penetrated the tunnel through a small hole at the top of the shaft; muffled noises filtered down from the camp. Looking upwards, Maurice met Rocket's surprised gaze for a moment before the chimp cautiously peered up through the hole.

…

As usual, the girl did not respond to him. More or less, she couldn't, even if she had wanted to it seemed. Bad Ape was fully aware that the child could not talk for some unknown reason. Not minding the girl, Bad Ape followed her stare, noticing that she was squinting at one of the gaps in the giant wall guarding the prison camp. Fetching the binoculars around his neck, Bad Ape quickly pulled them up to his eyes and looked through them.

"Oh, no, Friends!" Bad Ape lamented as he spotted both Caesar and Koba tied to the cross and pole within the middle of the camp. "Oh…"

As Bad Ape lowered his binoculars, he then noticed that the girl had squeezed out from behind the outcropped rocks and was making her way toward the unfinished wall.

"No!" Bad Ape exclaimed in horror as the child walked further and further away from him, completely thrown off by the child's unexpected actions.

Following after the human girl, Bad Ape stopped in his tracks, daring to not go any further from the safety of the stones that hid him. Deathly horrified, he called out to the child, beckoning, willing her to come back to the safety behind the stones.

The child paused briefly, turning to look back over her shoulder at Bad Ape, who gestured frantically for her to turn around and come back to him. He so much wanted to chase after her, to bring her back to safety, but again, was afraid that would only make things worse. That and he was just afraid, period.

"Come! Come back!"

The girl blinked and regarded Bad Ape for a moment more before she turned back around and stared up at the campsite once more.

…

Caesar sagged and shivered upon the cross that he was tied to. He tried to keep his head up, to remain aware and conscious, but he was fighting a losing battle against hunger and fatigue. His head lolled on his shoulder, while his heavy eyelids drooped. It was very much a struggle to keep them open.

Earlier through the day, Caesar had found that Koba was very much in the same state too; freezing, wet, hungry and sore all over. The bonobo had tried his best to keep his head up and remain conscious himself. However, in the way he was tied down, the bonobo himself was finding it very hard to stay strong.

Caesar himself was so very tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep. If he could just get a moment's rest, then maybe…

A shadow passed over him, registering vaguely on his senses, and he awoke abruptly, startled to discover that night had fallen at some point. What did that happen? The camp was eerily still and silent, lit only by the harsh glow of the security lights up above. He blinked in confusion, trying to figure out how long he had been unconscious.

Before he could fully take stock of the situation, the vague figure of an ape stepped into view before him, haloed by the camp's lights. Caesar squinted, trying to bring his blurry vision into focus to see who this ape was. As the ape came closer, the others' head blocked the glare from the lights. A scar running down one side of his face, across his mutilated left eye. It was here that Caesar gaped in surprise and confusion as he recognized the other ape finally, whom was staring intensely back at him.

"Koba?" he said hoarsely.

Koba looked well, as if he had not sustained any injuries at all for the last few days that they were at the camp. The bonobo tilted his head and reached out with his left hand, gently cradling Caesar's face.

"Koba! How did you-"

"Shhh…" Koba shushed Caesar, stopping the ape leader.

The scarred bonobo's one cold-green eye gazed tenderly at the ape leader.

"Sleep," Koba said softly in a dark lulling voice.

At this, Caesar lowered his eyelids momentarily, beguiled by Koba's invitation… that was before a thought crossed his mind.

His apes, they still needed him. Ash had trusted him. Causing Caesar himself to lift up his eyelids and stare at the ape in front of him.

If Koba had gotten out of his bindings, then the bonobo should be helping him get free. But then… why was Koba doing this to him? Luring him to sleep of all places.

"You cannot save them," the scarred bonobo continued.

The moment those words left Koba's mouth, Caesar huffed and blinked at the bonobo in front of him. Not sure if he had heard correctly.

"Apes. All. Die. Here," Koba followed up as he kept his tender eyes upon Caesar, still holding onto the other ape's cheek affectionately.

Not believing the words that was coming out of Koba's mouth, Caesar recoiled at the bonobo's touch.

"No!" Caesar grunted weakly.

Koba looked almost hurt by the action but he merely tilted his head in response.

"Yes," Koba maintained in his still soft and chilling voice. "Join me..."

Caesar squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the disturbing apparition, who could not possible be Koba. He understood that Koba could not be up here with him as he was still tied to the pole. Opening back up his golden-green eyes, Caesar met Koba' icy-green and milky colored ones.

"You are not Koba," Caesar declared in a hoarse voice. "Who are you?"

The ape impersonating as Koba raised his brows, as if surprised that Caesar had found him out. However the other ape's stunned face was only momentary, before Koba side glanced at Caesar and an unnerving grin spread across his lips.

"Caesar knows. Who. I am," the other ape responded, voice turning icy cold and menacing instead.

As Caesar watched, his eyes widened in horror as blood started to ooze down Koba's head, dripping down across the scar that ran over the left side of his face and dipped into his milky white eye. The other ape then reached up slowly and dug their fingers into their own face, causing more blood to spill down from their hand and fingers. With a squelching sound, the other ape had pulled his fist away and ripped the flesh off of his face to reveal a familiar looking chimpanzee-one with glassy pale-green eyes and fishnet scars, marring the left side of his head-glaring back at him. Breathing heavily, Caesar couldn't believe who was standing in front of him now.

"Pope," Caesar breathed.

"Caesar remembers," Pope said amusingly, his grin still etched upon his bloody lips as he leaned in and breathed his rancid breath upon the ape leader.

"You… you are dead. I saw you beneath the stones at the tower," Caesar breathed in a hushed voice, remembering clearly Pope's lifeless corpse crushed beneath two giant slabs of concrete.

"Yes… dead," Pope confirmed as he reached up and touched his own cheek whilst leaning on his hand slightly. "Caesar. Dead. Soon too," the scarred and bloody chimpanzee spoke in a dark tone. "Like rest. Of his family."

At this, even within his weakened state, anger burned within Caesar's chest as he glared at Pope's apparition.

"Great, Caesar. Angry?" Pope mused as he closed in again. "Just. Let go."

"No…" Caesar huffed back.

A frown formed upon Pope's lips and the deceased chimpanzee took a step back to look Caesar once over, confusion upon his features.

"Why fight for apes?" Pope asked curiously while shaking his head slowly from side to side. " There is no hope."

Before Caesar could answer, a blinding light shone in his eyes, startling him and causing him to squint. Refocusing his vision, Caesar was then met with a glaring red haired gorilla whom was looking at him, machete in hand. All of a sudden, Red raised the blade and swung it down toward him. The weapon chopped into the rope binding his wrist with a loud thwack. His freed arm dropped numbly to his side, leaving him hanging from only one wrist. Pins and needles stabbed the liberate arm limb continuously.

Disoriented, Caesar raised his head slightly to look for Pope but saw Red, the Colonel and many of the other human soldiers instead. Red then sliced through the other remaining bonds that held onto the ape leader. Caesar collapsed onto the wooden platform with a loud thud, too weak to do anything else and simply just laid there.

"If they're both still alive in the morning," the Colonel said as he knelt down and rubbed Caesar's head gently, "they both go back to work like everyone else, or you shoot them."

The man then stared back and forth at both of the debilitated apes.

"Keep him separate from the others," the Colonel indicated at Caesar. "That one can still stay there," he nodded once at Koba whom merely glared back weakly from his spot.

Preacher nodded obediently as Red came forward and carried out the Colonel's orders. Caesar did not fight back, and simply allowed Red to drag his body away on the cold dirt.

 _A dream_ , Caesar thought to himself as he was being dragged away. _Pope was just a dream_. Taunting him for his action and lulling him to die with him. Telling him that there was no hope for the apes.

Vaguely hearing Koba's cries, Caesar mustered the energy and let his gaze wander on over to the frantic bonobo and the other apes in the pens, all watching him. In that moment he could see the determination set within all of their eyes, even if they were hidden in the dark.

 _Pope was wrong_ , Caesar thought to himself as Koba's shout continued. _There is still hope for them._

 _For Koba and his apes._


	65. Chapter 65

Dusting themselves off, Maurice and Rocket looked above themselves.

" _We don't want to dig too much. The human soldiers will start noticing the holes,_ " Maurice informed with Rocket nodding and grunting in agreement.

"Help!"

The two apes jumped at the sudden loud voice of someone calling and leaned down quickly, picking up their respective flashlights before shining them down the tunnel. To their surprise, they saw Bad Ape frantically running down the dark corridor, arms flailing about in a hysterical manner.

"Help! Help!" Bad Ape said loudly as he finally paused to catch his breath.

Maurice tilted his head and observed the lanky chimpanzee over before he noticed that the girl was not with him. His beady green eyes searched the surroundings for any sign of the child, but she was nowhere to be found. A look of concern grew upon the orangutan's face before he met Bad Ape's eyes, needing to know what had become of the child.

" _Where is she? What's become of her?_

As if already knowing what Maurice was thinking, Bad Ape cleared his throat and shook his head desperately.

"She go! She-" Bad Ape started but then caught himself. "Come! Come! No time, come!" he wheezed as he led the way.

Without another word between them, Maurice and Rocket quickly followed Bad Ape back down the tunnels. Once they had exited the dark pit, Bad Ape led them to the edge of the outcropped rocks and pointed a finger at the uncompleted wall before turning back to face them while throwing his hands up on either side.

"She go in!" Bad Ape announced.

Maurice froze in shock as he grasped at what Bad Ape was saying, even as he struggled to understand why the child would do such a thing. Turning to look at Rocket, Maurice could see that the bulky chimp appeared equally stunned by the news from Bad Ape. Maurice knew well that his friend had not grown as attached to the child as he had while on their journey, but even so, Rocket understood the severity of the situation.

That the girl was now in danger too.

Reaching out, Maurice had then snatched the binoculars from Bad Ape and turned them toward the wall, where the human soldiers were working through the dark of the night to secure the heavy artillery in place.

"W-what you see?" Bad Ape asked curiously.

Through the binoculars, Maurice could see that the humans were hoisting rocket launchers and machine guns up the wall. The searchlights, instead of slowly shining down on the camp as they usually did, were all concentrated on the soldiers, to assist them in their labors. Intent on the arduous operation that they were doing, Maurice could see that none of the human soldiers appeared to notice as the girl entered the camp, undetected.

Dropping the binoculars within his hands, Maurice could not believe the child's luck.

"What happened?" Bad Ape asked.

…

Koba had watched desperately as they dragged Caesar away from him and tossed the ape leader into a cage that was several feet away from them, isolated from the other apes. As much as it pained him to see the disgusting humans and ape traitors treating Caesar as such, he was just glad to see that they had not harmed him much more than they already have.

 _At least he was okay… for now,_ Koba thought, and that was enough for him.

Koba had then rounded his indignant glare back upon the humans and turncoats as they marched away in the dark, leaving them to the cold of the night. Watching them take their leave, Koba then slowly let his gaze fall back to where Caesar was, who simply just laid there in his cage, not moving a single muscle. Koba opened his mouth to call out to his friend, but thought better of it and simply closed his jaw back up.

Caesar needs as much rest he could be offered, after what he's been through. If this was the moment that Caesar should get that, then Koba was going to let the ape leader have that in peace.

Koba knew naught of how long he stayed silent, once they had moved Caesar. However long it was though, it was long enough that a bit of light rain started to fall from the sky, showing his already freezing body with more cold. If he gets any colder, Koba was sure that he himself might not make it through the night. Sleep and wakefulness eluded him as he hovered in a semiconscious daze, dreading whatever the Colonel and his soldiers had plans for all of them. Closing his eyes, Koba couldn't help but shudder at the thought while trying to ease his mind.

Just as he was drifting off again, Koba felt soft small fingers touching his face. Puzzled, Koba was confused as to what or who was touching him. Opening up his eyelids slowly, Koba had then looked up and was surprised to see the human girl standing there, gazing at him with a worried expression on her petite face.

"What?" Koba gasped.

Baffled by the girl's sudden appearance, Koba wondered to himself if he were seeing things or dreaming. Looking around anxiously he saw no one else there, just the girl. Letting his gaze wander on over to Caesar's cage, he could see the chimpanzee, half laying down and looking back at them, clutching the child's little doll in his hands. Curiously, letting his eyes wander back toward the girl in front of him, Koba then knew that she was really here, looking at him with sad blue eyes.

 _How was it possible? Where did she come from? How did she get past the patrols?_

Koba had wanted to ask the little girl how and why she was here, or ask where Maurice, Rocket and that other chimp was. However, no matter what he would have asked of her, Koba knew that the girl couldn't answer him, even if she wanted to. For some reason, the child was afflicted with something that had taken away her capacity to speak, much like the soldiers that they had found while they were trailing after the Colonel. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to have any effect on the apes, which was a good thing at least. While they both were looking at one another, Koba had broken eye contact as something crossed his mind and he looked around himself quickly.

 _Where was Maurice, Rocket and Bad Ape?_ Koba wondered to himself quickly.

If the little girl was here, then most likely the others were close by. Hadn't Caesar tell them to flee though? Or listened to Koba himself when he told them to stay so that he could bring their friend back? So, why was the girl out here all by herself? He glanced around once more just to make sure, but like before, saw no sign of his friends and allies. Koba then quizzically looked at the girl and was astonished when she turned to look at both him and Caesar while sliding a finger down her neck, tentatively mimicking the sign Maurice had tried to teach her before.

 _Thirsty?_ She signed.

Koba blinked once and was quite dumbfounded by the child's query. He knew that Maurice had tried to teach the girl how to sign but thought that it was to no avail, only seeing it as a waste of time and effort on the orangutan's part. However, he had not thought that the girl was capable of communicating in such a manner and it seems as if Maurices' efforts had paid off. Before Koba could respond, the girl had abruptly turned and wandered out of sight, leaving him there in the middle of the yard.

Letting his gaze fall on over to the pen, Koba could see Caesar craning his neck, looking anxiously for the girl, but was unable to see where she had gone. Koba knew that Caesar was looking for the child out of concern, wondering where she had disappeared off to. To be honest though, Koba would had never thought of it possible, but his heart had suddenly started to pound within his chest as his concern had taken him by surprise for the human child too. They all had not wanted the girl along on this quest of revenge in the first place, knowing that it was too dangerous. However, for reasons or another, they had allowed the child to come with them, who is now putting herself in great peril for their sake. They waited tensely until the human child finally returned, lugging a heavy pail of water in both hands.

The girl at first was making her way on over towards Koba with the pail. The water sloshed over the sides of the bucket as she carried it. Koba however, gave a quiet bark at the girl, causing her to stop in her tracks in surprise. He then shook his head quickly and then nodded towards Caesar in his own cage.

 _Him first._

Koba could see an emotion forming on Caesar's face as they made eye contact. Quickly however, he had turned away from the other ape and met the girl's curious gaze once more, indicating that she give the water to Caesar first. As if understanding, the child quickly brought the bucket on over to where Caesar was and held it up to the bars.

Koba observed as the sight of the water gave Caesar the strength to lift himself from the ground and crawl on over to where the girl was standing. Before Caesar began drinking from it though, he glanced back in Koba's direction, quietly meeting the bonobo's golden-green and milky colored eyes.

" _Thank you,_ " Caesar gestured.

Koba merely nodded once in Caesar's direction before the ape leader pushed his face against the bars as the child tilted the pail, spilling water into his gaping mouth. Caesar drank thirstily from the bucket, reducing its weight and relieving it within the child's arms. Soon enough, the child was able to hold onto it with just one hand, using her other to reach through the bars to fondly touch the parched chimpanzee's head. As hardened as Koba's heart was about the human race and how they've treated apes in the past. The sight of the girl rubbing Caesar's head and giving him what he needed in order to survive had caused his heart to melt, if slightly.

Once Caesar was done, the girl lifted the pail, still half empty and quickly made her way over towards Koba. Once in sight, Koba lowered his head as the girl lifted the bucket to his own lips. He guzzled down the water in large gulps, rejoicing as it soothed his parched throat and tongue, which had been without a drop of water for days. Even if the water had a tinge of metallic taste to it the moment it filled his mouth. To Koba, it was the sweetest thing he's ever drank as some of it spilled out over the sides of his lips and onto the still frozen ground.

As he himself drained the bucket of its contents, Koba had finally moved his head away and took lungfuls of air. He had not drank like that for ages and found the cool water filling his stomach already rejuvenating him. Once he had recovered himself, Koba slowly turned to look up at the girl as she stared at him, looking content with what she had done for both him and Caesar.

A few grunts and quips came from the ape enclosure across the yard. Pulling his head back, Koba turned to see that the other apes were pressing against the bars of their pen, staring in wonder and curiosity at the girl who had just gave the two apes water. The apes all beckoned silently to the girl, who turned toward them and made her way over to them.

…

 _Oh, please don't let the human soldiers see you,_ Maurice thought to himself.

The fearful orangutan spied on the serene scene from around the edge of the camp's front gate. He, Rocket and Bad Ape clung to the shadows at the base of the wall after creeping out from behind the nearby outcropping protruding from the plain. Maurice was a bit torn by mixed emotions as he watched the child come to both Caesar and Koba's aid; he was very proud of her bravery and compassion to his two friends, finding himself deeply moved by the sight, while on the other hand he was also quite terrified for her safety.

It also didn't help that Bad Ape kept whimpering and squirming right next to them too.

When the girl had left Koba's side and made her way over to where the other apes were, at their beckoning, Maurice and Rocket both glanced at each other worriedly for the girl's safety. Again the child seemed oblivious to the danger that she was in as she strode across the yard, leaving Maurice only to worry so much more for her as he watched on.

…

Caesar watched with mounting anxiety as the girl stood with the apes on the other side of the yard, still trapped within their pens. The child's back was turned to him, so he couldn't quite see if or how the girl was communicating with any of his fellow apes, but the longer she lingered by the pen, the greater the risk that she would be caught infiltrating the camp. His worried glances met Koba's, who seemed as equally worried about the girl before the bonobo had let his eyes wander upward. Following Koba's gaze, the both of them swept around the area, to look at the guards posted by the walls. Luckily the soldier's seemed unaware of the child's presence, directing their attention off at the direction of the walls were distant noises could be heard. Glancing back down, Caesar knew that the girl was tempting fate by remaining in view. She could be spotted at any moment.

And then…?

The girl could expect no mercy from the Colonel once he realized that she was infected. The man had killed his own son and ordered his soldiers to kill their very own families. He would not hesitate for a moment before having the girl put down like a sick animal, which, now that Caesar thought of it, might explain why that ragged deserter had been hiding out in the ramshackle farm by the beach side. Had that man been a former soldier? Concealing the mute child from the Colonel and his troops? The more he thought about it, the more Caesar felt a twinge of regret for shooting the man. Not that he gave Caesar much of a choice…

After what felt like an eternity, the girl finally turned away from the other apes and wandered back over to where Koba was, cradling something within her small hands. Puzzled, Caesar looked at the other apes, whom were all watching expectantly for reasons he couldn't quite grasp. He then perked up his head when the girl showed the scarred bonobo something within her hands, noticing a surprise look overcoming Koba's features. Koba then immediately snapped his head in the direction of the other apes and looked at them for what seemed like a long while. Caesar couldn't see Koba's face or what was happening, but he did see many of the apes offering warm smiles at the bonobo. As Koba turned back to look at the girl- eyes red and puffy-he quickly shook his head and nodded in Caesar's direction once more. Caesar didn't quite understand what was going on still, but the girl obeyed nonetheless and made her way over toward him.

When the child had finally stepped up to his cage, she reached through the bars with her hands and waited patiently for Caesar. Curious, Caesar reached out with his own bigger hand to see what the girl was offering to him-and a long stream of grain gently poured into his outstretched palm.

 _Food!_

Caesar slowly looked up at the girl who only smiled sweetly at him as she gave him the oats and grains, pouring it into his hand. Turning back around the girl then crossed the yard yet again to the apes once more and received another handful of helpings from them. The child then steadily made her way over to where Koba was tied up and offered him the grains as well. Caesar watched as the scarred bonobo looked at the girl, emotion still set within his eyes before he slowly turned to look back at the apes again. As Caesar followed Koba's gaze, they both could see that the apes were nodding in encouragement, letting them know to eat. It was then that Caesar realized that the apes must have been hoarding the oats, perhaps to stretch them out in case they were not fed again, and had seen an opportunity to share their meager stores with both him and Koba, using the girl as a conduit to do so.

Slowly, pale colored knuckles and hair as white as snow, slowly rose from among the apes, along with the individual. Caesar watched as Winter slowly stood up, face set with determination and fists pressed together.

 _Apes together strong._

A wave of emotion, even more powerful than his hunger for the grain, washed over Caesar as he hastily wolfed down the food within his hand. Koba did the same as he bent down and ate out of the child's hands, his limbs still tied behind his back. Pride filled Caesar's heart as, one after another, the other apes raised their fists together as well, joining in solidarity despite their pain, their suffering and their captivity.

Once Koba had finished eating, the little girl had turned to look at the other apes, watching the exchange with interest. Turning to look at both Caesar and Koba, the child raised her own tiny fists as well and pressed them together too, just right above her chest. A smile broke out across her face as she successfully signed along with the others.

Caesar himself needn't correct her that the sign was only used for apes, nor did Koba. They had already both seen that she had risked death to ease their suffering, and was in just as much danger from the Colonel as any of the other apes around them would generally. To both Caesar and Koba's eyes, the child had earned the right to consider herself an ape with them.

…

The child had then curiously looked Koba over once more. As he watched her, the girl had paused for a brief moment before she timidly reached out with a hand toward his face. As she did so though, Koba immediately knew what she was doing and had flinched away. The action had caused the girl to stop what she was doing, a look of surprise and sadness within her blue eyes. Meeting the child's gaze, Koba felt something within his chest sink a little.

He knew that the girl had only wanted to touch his face and scars out of innocent curiosity. But the cause of those scars, pain and torment so long ago. That were etched upon him, were all made by human hands and still affected him to a certain degree. However… this child before him had proved to show nothing but kindness to him. Like the very few humans who had only wanted to help him.

 _Maybe this was not so different?_

Taking a look at the girl's face once more and then at her still outstretched hand. Koba took in a deep breath, closed his eyes tightly, before slowly leaning his head forward. Expecting hot searing pain and cold freezing metal, he instead felt warming small touches. Nothing like his past experiences, when humans had handled him as such, so very long ago. This was much different. Something nicer and inviting, calming even. No longer recoiling from the child's touch as he thought he would, Koba was quite surprised when the girl's fingers gently traced the scars on his face.

Breathing deeply from his nose, he finally opened up his eyes slowly and was met with the curious blue eyes of the human girl, who was smiling innocently at him. Koba couldn't help himself as his own features soften at the sight of the girl and leaned a little more into the child's tender hands. Gentle touches that reminded him of the oh so very small amount of humans that had treated him kindly in the past.

Much like Mary, Amol, and… Ellie.

The girl stopped what she was doing and watched Koba curiously, seeing the older ape shiver ever so slightly in the soft rain around them. Knowing how cold it could get, the child slowly wrapped her arms around the bigger ape's neck and hugged him close to her. The action surprised Koba, causing him to go stock still. Unsure of what to do he stayed like that for a few moments before he let out a deep breath he didn't even know that he was holding. Closing his eyes, Koba then leaned his head gently into the smaller girl's shoulder, feeling her small body warming him up a bit. It was not much, coming from the girl, but to Koba, she was like the warmest rays of sunlight that shone that filtered through the trees of a cold morning.

…

Maurice was emotionally amazed as he saw the girl sign along with the others, from his hiding place with Rocket and Bad Ape. Deeply moved by the poignant scene playing out in the prison yard, he wasn't sure what he was more proud of: his fellow apes' perseverance in the face of adversity or the human child's loyalty to her newfound tribe. As it is natural, male orangutans, by instinct, did not play much of a role in raising their offspring, but Maurice couldn't have been more touched by the girl's spirit and compassion as if she had been his own child. It was then that he resolved to keep teaching her to the best of his abilities. No matter what it took.

That was, assuming that any of them survived until dawn.

The warm glow in his chest turned into cold ice however, as he spotted the Colonel and his lieutenants heading toward Caesar, Koba and the other penned apes, who did not yet appear to be aware of the soldier's approach. The humans conferred with each other as they marched across the camp, apparently finished with their bringing the artillery up onto the wall for the evening. Rocket stiffened beside Maurice, having clearly taken notice of the Colonel and his men as well. Looking at Rocket, Maurice gestured at the girl, who was still standing right in front of Koba in the middle of the prison yard. He could not imagine that the ruthless Colonel would tolerate any unwanted intruders aiding the apes.

" _If they see her,_ " Maurice signed worriedly. " _They will kill her._ "

…

In their moment the sounds of footsteps crunching across the frozen yard alerted Koba barely in time. Craning his head back as far as his body would allow him to, he saw the shadowy figures of the Colonel and his officers coming towards them, accompanied by Red and a few of the other turncoat apes. Turning back to face the girl urgently, Koba startled the child.

"Run!" he ushered in a hoarse voice. "Hide!"

The girl fearfully looked up past Koba and could see the ominous figures coming closer and closer towards her. Without another word from the scarred bonobo, the child ran quickly past Caesar's own pen and hid herself behind a long steel leg from one of the towers and pressed her small body against it just as the Colonel and his men paused along the route passing Caesar's cage and where Koba was still tied down by the pole.

All of the apes, including Caesar and Koba kept quiet, hoping to avoid attracting the Colonel's attention, but fearing that the girl was bound to be discovered before long. Quiet as she was, she was deep behind enemy lines. The odds were not on her side.

The Colonel paused briefly by Koba and noticed the water pail sitting next to the bonobo.

"Who left that there?" the Colonel asked as he turned to look behind him, causing a few soldiers to glance at one another.

"Don't know. Sir," Preacher spoke up, sure that the bucket wasn't there earlier.

"Well, we're not animals are we? Pick it up," the Colonel ordered as he turned to the turncoat apes.

One of the Donkeys did what was ordered and bounded to Koba's side, snatching the metal pail and returned back to the ranks.

…

" _The human soldiers! They will kill her!_ " Maurice signed in panic.

Looking back and forth from Maurice and to the girl, Rocket growled lowly as he bit his lip for a moment before turning to sign.

" _I know what to do!_ " he signed quickly.

" _And what is that?_ " Maurice asked hesitantly.

" _Make sure that to know where apes are under the tunnels. Now go!_ " Rocket signed before taking his leave.

As Maurice and Bad Ape took point behind Rocket, the bulky chimpanzee slowly rose from his spot and walked towards the front of the camp, letting out a series of hoots to announce his presence.

"No Friend!" Bad Ape called out.

To his surprise though, he was held firmly by the arm and the lanky chimpanzee looked behind him to see the concerned look upon Maurices' face. He knew that Rocket was doing this to protect the girl, putting himself in danger, but why? Turning his head back around, Bad Ape watched as the scene unfolded before him.

…

Caesar had glanced behind him and waved the girl off, telling her to hide deeper in her own cover, lest she be found out. He and the others were on high alert now but there was only so much that they could do to protect the child. Should the humans just walked past his own holding cell even just a little, they would have no doubt see her.

Before long, angry shouts from the direction of the wall came to the girl's rescue, distracting the Colonel and his lieutenants. The Colonel lifted his head at the commotion, and Caesar looked to see what was causing the disturbance.

A squad of soldiers, toting rifles, advanced towards the noise and now shadowy figures that was emerging from the darkness. Caesar nor the others could see who it was. However, Caesar did see that the soldiers were roughly prodding at the captive with their weapons. Although, grateful for the distraction, Caesar couldn't help wondering what the uproar was all about. Had one of the apes attempted to escape? Or was another human showing signs of the virus that cause them to not speak.

Caesar hoped that it was the latter.

As the soldiers neared, he eventually managed to peer and who it was that the humans had captured. His heart sank as he saw who the new captured prisoner was.

Rocket.

Outnumbered and held at gunpoint, Rocket held his arms up as he was slowly brought before the Colonel. The bald man then cast a suspicious look at Caesar and then at Koba, no doubt suspecting that the bulkier chimp had braved the camp on their behalf. For himself, Caesar was dismayed to find his friend in the hands of the enemy, as the girl's arrival had already suggested, it was obvious that Rocket and the other had not fled the region as he had ordered, but what about Maurice and Bad Ape? What had become of them?

Caesar and most likely Koba as well, longed to question Rocket, but that was impossible with the Colonel looking on and the girl hiding only a few yards away from them. Both Caesar and Koba endured the Colonel's scrutiny hoping that the madman's gaze did no drift to where the girl was concealing herself. It was bad enough that Rocket had been captured; Caesar and Koba did not want the girl's execution on their conscience. Especially after what she had done for them.

Getting no reaction from the two captured apes, the Colonel then examined Rocket from a safe distance. Making sure that he did not let the same mistake happen to him twice, especially when Caesar had almost gotten to him before. Taking a lungful of air, the Colonel nodded at Red, indicating that he should take custody of the captive chimp.

With a grunt, Red approached Rocket, who stood stock still as the gorilla approached him. The moment Red had laid his hand upon Rocket's arm it provoked the bulky chimpanzee to retaliate with the smaller of the two headbutting the gorilla in the face. Red stumbled backwards, clutching his snout, before being tackled in the midsection by the other ape. Gaining his bearings, Red angrily drew up his arms and swung them heavily down upon Rocket's back with a loud grunt, before being tossed onto the ground violently.

Snarling at each other, the two simians battled viciously, pummeling each other with their fists and rolling across the wet ground, while the soldier stood by, keeping their guns trained at the grappling apes. Cries from the other side of the pens roared with life as the two apes fought with one another while the humans soldiers merely looked on, some enjoying the show, others watching on apprehensively.

As the savage brawl continued, Caesar saw an opportunity and furtively signaled to the girl whom was still hiding in her spot, to make a run for it. It pained Caesar himself to make use of Rocket's solitary struggle, but perhaps some good could come from the violence that was distracting everyone else. There was nothing he could do for Rocket right now, but the girl at least had a chance to get away from here.

Responding quickly, the child darted away from area she was hiding behind from and crossed the yard to the crumbling multistory barracks along one side of the canyon. Watching the girl disappear behind the accumulated rubble and debris, he could see her small frame sprinting into the wall and into the safety of the darkness outside.

All of a sudden Caesar heard Koba yelling a resounding "no!" loudly before the sound of gunfire echoed from behind, causing Caesar's heart to stop.

No.

Fearing for the worst, Caesar turned his head back around slowly, hoping with all of his heart and being that Rocket was not killed. As the scene finally came into view, Caesar had first saw Red standing there with the Colonel just a few feet away with his gun drawn. Swallowing hard, Caesar let his gaze then fall on over to where Rocket was and his heart started to beat again as he could see that his good friend was very much still alive and glaring up at the Colonel.

It was just a warning shot, not a kill shot.

The fighting had stopped and the Colonel walked on over, gun still in hand. He loomed over Rocket for a bit and saw that the chimpanzee merely kept a defiant frown upon his features as he stared him down. Leaning onto his knees the Colonel gave Rocket a look over and then tilted his head at the nearly hairless chimpanzee.

"Are there others out there?" the Colonel asked slowly.

Despite the soldiers and guns still surrounding him, Rocket kept silent. His face betrayed no hint of fear, only stubborn resolve. Caesar and Koba both knew that no power on earth could get Rocket to betray Maurice, Bad Ape or anyone else for that matter. This was hardly the first time Rocket had risked death for his fellow apes. He could not be threatened into talking.

The Colonel might have sensed this from Rocket, too.

The man slowly rose back up and simply looked out at the darkness beyond, eyes still hidden behind those dark sunglasses of his.

"Sweep the area," he ordered, then glanced back down at Rocket. "Put him in the pen with the others."

Before Rocket could react, Red had surprised the chimpanzee by harshly backhanding him, effectively knocking the wind out of him. As the Colonel walked off, Red and a fellow turncoat had grabbed Rocket roughly by the ankle and dragged him away.

Caesar and Koba could only watch as their good friend was moved to the enclosure with the other chained apes. The both of them then turned their furious eyes upon the Colonel who simply turned to regard them for a mere moment before moving onwards. Watching the man take his leave, the sounds of fists pounding on flesh alerted both Caesar and Koba once more. They then watched in horror as Red began assaulting Rocket, once he was chained up. Heavy set fists rained down on the bulkier chimp, hammering him relentlessly. Caesar himself winced slightly at every heavy blow that came down upon his friend.

During Rocket's torture, one of the apes from among the crowd came rushing up at the rusted haired gorilla. That ape of course, was none other than Ash, who would not stand to see his father continue to be punished. Before he could reach Red and the other turncoats however, the other apes held him back, warning him that he too would be hurt in the process. Caesar and Koba could see the pain on the younger chimp's face but he held himself firm as his father was continued to get beaten up by Red.

Once Red was satisfied with what was done, he and the other turncoats made their way outside of the pens. Passing on by Rocket, Red then gave the downed chimpanzee one more kick for good measure as he strode out of the enclosure, nearly causing Ash to go after them.

Caesar could feel a growl forming at the back of his throat as he watched Red and the other traitorous apes. He couldn't think that he would hate another ape as much as he hated Koba, when he had misplaced the blame and the death of his family upon the scarred bonobo. Red however, had proved him wrong about that. Deep down, Caesar knew that what Koba did, even at his worst, had always been on the side of the apes, but Red? He brutalized other apes in the service of a human who wanted to exterminate his own kind.

At the thought of Koba, Caesar felt his heart sank more as guilt overcame him. Letting his gaze wander on over to Koba he could see that the bonobo's hackles stood on end over his straining body. Even if he couldn't see Koba's face, he knew that the bonobo was fuming with deep seated hatred and anger. Of all of the individuals, Koba, like him, would do anything for the apes, and to treat them like this? This was not the way apes should be treating each other.

Once the turncoats had departed, leaving their fellow apes behind. Caesar and Koba stared ruefully at their injured friend. Rocket slowly stirred and reached up to take a hold of the bars of the pen, the bulky chimp then pulled himself up shakily onto his feet, bloodied but unbowed. The nearly hairless chimpanzee was bruised, torn and bleeding; Caesar and Koba had never seen Rocket in such a worse shape. However, the nearly hairless chimpanzee still stayed standing after taking such a beating. This was a testament to Rocket's indomitable nature.

Ash had then quickly rushed on over toward his father and held the older chimp steady. As Rocket turned his head to see who was helping him his face lit up when he saw the smiling face of his eldest child. Without a second thought, Rocket immediately wrapped his arms around his son and embraced him tightly, more than happy to see that Ash was okay. The younger chimp hugged his father back just as strongly before releasing him and both touched foreheads.

" _Your mother? Your Sister?_ " Rocket asked as he pulled back.

" _Cinder is fine. She is with the other children,_ " Ash reassured the older chimp, easing his father's mind. " _Mother…_ "

Ash had then looked behind him, to which Rocket followed his son's gaze. Looking pass Ash and toward the crowd of apes behind them, Rocket's throat went dry and his heart skipped a beat when he spotted his dearly beloved, standing just a few feet away from them. With her hands held close to her bosom, Tinker's eyes welled up as she tentatively took several steps forward.

" _I see you, Rocket,_ " she had signed.

Rocket blinked but then a warm smile crossed his features.

" _I see you, Tinker,_ " he signed back affectionately.

The petite female then quickly closed the distance and embraced her sweet Rocket, letting out small cries in relief. Rocket then wrapped his arms around Tinker and held her close to his body, letting out soft apologetic cooing noises to calm her down. Closing his eyes tightly, Rocket then placed his snout upon Tinker's head as he held her firmly. He was deeply sorry for leaving his family to suffer like this but he was here now and he is going to make sure that they are protected.

After Rocket and Tinker had their moment, Rocket lifted his head back up and saw Ash standing next to them, an apologetic look upon his face.

" _Son?_ "

" _Father… I am sorry. I failed you, uncle Caesar and everyone else,_ " Ash suddenly signed. " _I could not lead the apes to our new home. I…_ "

Before Ash could continue on, Rocket had reached out and took a hold of his son's hand, stopping him from continuing. The younger chimp met the apologetic eyes of his father, whom shook his head slowly from side to side.

" _No, Ash. This was not your fault,_ " Rocket then signed. " _We entrusted you with too much responsibility when it was ours. I'm sorry, son._ "

Ash took in a deep breath as he saw his father's hand signs and emotionally met the older ape's eyes.

" _You did a good job protecting the apes. I am so proud of you,_ " Rocket finished, reaching out and placing a knuckled finger upon the younger chimp's chest, right over his heart.

" _We both are,_ " Tinker chimed in, knowing well that Ash was still beating himself up about them being captured.

Ash couldn't help but smile in relief at his mother and father, before quickly rubbing at his eyes with the back of his arm. Sniffing loudly and gaining his composure, Ash then met his parents with a stern look to his features.

" _Father. Apes are being used as slaves here. What are we doing to do?_ " Ash asked.

To Ash's and Tinker's surprise, a soft chuckle escaped Rocket's lips as he met their eyes before rounding himself to look back at both Koba and Caesar.

" _You two feeling better?_ " Rocket had asked.

Caesar and Koba were a bit stunned to being addressed by their friend but both of them nodded at Rocket. The food and water the girl had brought to them had indeed restored them to a degree.

" _Good,_ " Rocket then continued. " _Then we can talk about escape._ "

While Rocket had signed that, he made sure that everyone saw what he was saying, confusing many of the apes, even Caesar and Koba.

" _How Rocket?_ " Tinker asked. " _How are we supposed to get out of here with the human soldiers all around us._ "

" _We have a plan,_ " Rocket simply stated.

A determined look had set upon his features, Rocket had then brought his fists together.

 _Apes together strong._

* * *

 **I hope the explanation of how Nova had gotten into the camp unnoticed was a bit better in this one. In this chapter I also wanted to portray that Koba finally trusts Nova now, after what she does for both him and Caesar. Also I wanted to show Rocket reuniting with his family again, well... to a certain degree I suppose.**

 **Characters Introduced:**

 **Amol** \- An employee at Gyn-Sys and was Koba's friend before he was fired by Jacobs.


	66. Chapter 66

The next morning came much too early as far as Koba was concerned as his eyelids fluttered open weakly with the sounds of feet stomping the ground around him. Now fully awake, Koba looked at either side of himself and couldn't help but groan inwardly. As before, the soldiers all paraded in formation as they mustered themselves before the Colonel's tower, even as the caged apes dreaded the day to come. Luckily, Koba himself was turned away from the tower as the soldiers reverently looked up at it. Most likely waiting for their precious leader to show himself in the balcony like before. Koba could care less though as he adjusted his limbs and could feel the cold sting in them.

Well, at least his hadn't lost his arms and legs to the cold thankfully.

Just as before the apes all experienced another disturbing ritual from the humans. All yelling incoherently in unison with words that Koba cared not for. Declaring something about themselves the Beginning and the End.

 _Crazy and out of their mind_ s. That was what Koba thought of them.

Before long whistles shrieked into the air as the troops dismissed from the rally and set them to work forcing the chained apes out of the pens and into the yard. Where the apes dragged their feet and knuckles, in no hurry to resume their labors. The Colonel moved through the chaotic operation, accompanied by Preacher, Red and a few other turncoats, until they had reached Koba.

The Colonel looked down at the noxious bonobo who stared back coldly. The two stared at each other for a bit before the man drew his sidearm and then signaled at Red and the other turncoat apes with him. The gorilla and other chimps dutifully undid the bonds that held down Koba, whilst he simply watched them.

"Try anything..." the Colonel spoke up, catching Koba's attention. "...and I'll kill him. You understand?"

Koba's eyes darted to Caesar, whom was watching from his cage, before he slowly glared back up at the Colonel once more, who was still looking down at him, hiding behind those dark glasses. Koba did not answer, instead he gave the Colonel a hard look as his limbs were freed and he stood up slowly, tottering upon shaky legs. Koba could feel his limbs burning and protesting with pain but he kept quiet, not wanting to give the man the satisfaction to see him looking weak. Once his neck was finely secured with a collar, they yanked on Koba's chains, pulling him toward where Caesar was. Koba grunted as pins and needles stabbed at his arms and legs but other than that, that was all they were going to get from him.

When they had reached Caesar's cage, they all stared at the ape leader sitting in his cell for a moment before the Colonel slowly turned his head to look at Preacher. Rounding to look back at Caesar, the Colonel couldn't help but scoff aloud.

"Still alive," the man said as Preacher dutifully opened Caesar's cage door.

The two apes watched as the Colonel flicked his pistol at the ape leader, telling him to come out. Caesar shot the Colonel an angry look before he rose to his feet. Caesar had faltered for a moment and leaned onto the wall of his cage for support. It took every bit of energy from Koba to not break away from the others and help Caesar. However, as much as he had wanted to do that, he knew that Caesar wouldn't allow such help. So instead, Koba watched on in silence as Caesar emerged from his own secluded pen to stare the Colonel down.

The Colonel himself regarded the ape leader coldly as Red walked on over to begin chaining up Caesar.

"Send him to the quarry," the Colonel said. "Alone."

At this Caesar narrowed his eyes at the Colonel but uttered no words to him.

"And… this one?" Preacher asked, indicating Koba.

"He'll join the others," the Colonel explained without sparing Preacher or Koba a glance. "He'll be on transport duty. Alone. If he falls behind… you guys know what to do" the man explained simply.

Just as Caesar and Koba were made to turn away in opposite directions the Colonel had told them to hold as he noticed something within the ape leader's cage. It was at this point, Caesar had forgotten about the rag doll that was given to him by the little girl.

Striding forward, the Colonel reached into the cage and plucked the discarded toy from the ground. He stared at the beaten-up rag doll, visibly perplexed by it. Koba side glanced the Colonel, nervous about the doll's discovery and the danger it could impose to the girl, Maurice and Bad Ape, not to mention their plans of escaping this dreaded place. Turning to look at Caesar, Koba could seen the chimpanzee's face turn away, avoiding eye contact as the Colonel reemerged from the pen.

Koba could see the Colonel stare off into the distance for a moment before looking back down at the doll in his hands. The man then turned to look at Caesar.

"What is this?" the Colonel asked.

Koba looked from the man and then to Caesar, only seeing the other ape's backside, wondering what his friend was conveying. Seeing that the Colonel was not going to get an answer from the ape leader, he then turned his attention to Preacher, who was standing next to him.

"How did this get in here?"

Turning his attention to the young soldier beside him, Koba could see the blood drained from Preacher's face. The young man gulped and fidgeted nervously, looking utterly miserable. Confusion and sweat beaded upon the young man's face and Koba merely maintained a poker face as he watched the human beside him squirm.

Koba did not feel a grain of sympathy for him.

"I don't know, sir," Preacher's voice quavered as he responded.

The Colonel was quiet for a moment before he spoke up again.

"Get them to work," he said simply.

With that order in place, both Caesar and Koba were shoved by the ape turncoats, toward their respective destinations to where they were going to be made to work. As he followed quietly, Koba couldn't help but glance back over his shoulder, seeing the Colonel stare at Caesar as he walked away, the doll in his hands. Then to his surprise, Koba saw Caesar glancing backwards too. First, to look at the Colonel and then he quickly met his gaze. Koba swore he saw a ghost of a smirk upon Caesar's lips before the chimp turned back around.

As Koba too slowly faced forward once more. Walking along with the others, he couldn't help as the corners of his mouth turned upward into a smile as well.

…

" _What!? We are in danger then!_ " Andy gestured angrily as he met Maurice's eyes.

" _I understand that but it is up to us now. We must do what we can to save them,_ " Maurice explained slowly.

Grinding his teeth together, Andy turned around, huffing and puffing before knuckle-walking back and forth in front of the orangutan. The distressed chimpanzee was then stopped in his tracks as a hand had reached out and placed itself upon Andy's shoulder.

" _Stay calm,_ " Grey ordered, meeting Andy in the eyes before walking up to Maurice. " _What do we do, Maurice? What is the plan then?_ " Grey asked.

" _Rocket and I have found a way to have everyone escape from the camp. It involves digging right under where they are all locked up in their pens,_ " Maurice explained. " _Now, we just need to figure out where they specifically are, under the tunnel ways. It was agreed that we needed to find a way to get inside and then inform the other that was still outside and dig an escape for the others._ "

" _And how would we do that?_ " Andy asked curiously, unconvinced

" _That is up to Rocket and the others now. We have to wait for them to give us the message,_ " Maurice answered.

Andy leaned his backside onto the wall of the tunnel for support and a skeptical look cross his features.

" _And this will work?_ " Andy questioned once more.

" _Even so, we must make it work,_ " Grey stepped in. " _We have to._ "

There was a grunt and all heads turned to look down at another chimpanzee, whom was sitting down on the ground with his back leaning against the walls-Spear.

" _I trust in this plan,_ " Spear signed with shaky fingers. " _It has to work. Or there is nothing else,_ " he huffed weakly.

Maurice lumbered on over and knelt beside Spear, reaching out and placing a hand upon the younger chimp's head affectionately.

" _Yes, it will work,_ " Maurice assured Spear. " _Eat the rest of that rabbit that Grey hunted for both you and Andy. We will need both of your strengths when the time comes._ "

Spear nodded and brought up the raw meat to his lips and started to consume it, hungrily but slowly. Getting back up to his legs, Maurice rounded himself to look at Andy, who closed his eyes tightly and took in a deep breath before opening them back up again.

" _It's just… I'm afraid that if this does not go as planned. Then we are lost,_ " Andy signed fearfully, his face furrowing into that of worry.

" _Like Grey had said,_ " Maurice signed. " _We will make it work. Because we must._ "

" _But you do not know what happened to us while you were off with Caesar and the others!_ " Andy signed back forcefully, his eyes welling up. " _They killed our friends in front of us, Maurice! They threatened our families. Tortured us. Made us work until we could no longer move and then they killed those who were not useful to them anymore or fought back,_ " it was at this point that Andy couldn't hold himself anymore as a few tears escaped his eyes. " _They still have my dear Judy and my Lake up there. I am so scared for them,_ " he finished.

Seeing how fearful Andy was about the plan and considering that it may fail, caused Maurice's own heart to ache for the other ape. He could never imagine what they had all gone through, nor did he want to know such atrocities. However, he felt for his friend and did not know what to do to make the situation better for Andy.

" _I cannot say that I understand what you went through, my dear friend,_ " Maurice signed. " _But I need you to trust me. Trust in Rocket and the others. As we will need each other in order to get out of here alive._ "

Andy frowned and couldn't help himself as he glared at the ground in front of him. After a brief quiet, he finally nodded quietly and simply stood there and said nothing more. Grey on the other hand walked up to the other chimpanzee and placed a reassuring hand upon the other ape's shoulder before turning to look back at Maurice.

" _We… we have been through much,_ " Grey tried to explain. " _It has been difficult. For everyone._ "

Maurice simply nodded quietly in return, thinking of no ill intention from Andy at all. He knew that this was very hard on them. Unlike he himself, Andy and Grey still had families that were locked up within the grounds were evil man tread. However, as much as they all wanted to go and free their friends and families, they couldn't simply rush on in without a plan. This had to be done quietly and delicately.

There were sounds from above, causing a few powdered snow to fall down into the pit where they were all in. Looking upwards, the apes all saw a chimp's head pop into view.

"Hey! Come, come friends! Other friends out now!" Bad Ape announced.

" _I'll go and see,_ " Maurice turned back to look at both Grey and Andy.

With a deep breath, Maurice then started to ascend up the steps to where the others were. Andy had leaned back onto the wall for support as he wiped furiously at his eyes, clearing them of any moisture. During the whole conversation, Spear had quietly ate away and had decided to not voice his opinion on the matter while Grey stood there and simply waited for Maurice to return.

…

Panting to himself, high above the prison yard, on a dangerously narrow perch, Caesar strained to quarry heavy rocks from the frigid cliffs. The granite ledge had been roughly hacked out of the side of the cliff, above the camp grounds. Normally apes in general did not perspire as profusely as humans did, but now sweat dripped into his eyes, stinging them. Slippery palms made it hard to keep a tight grip on the handle of his pick as he chipped away at the frozen stone face of the canyon, wrestling more building materials from the stubborn granite. A savage part of his soul wished that he were swinging the pick right at the Colonel's skull instead. Only the armed guards keeping watch on him from below prevented him from carrying out his bloodthirsty fantasy that played out within his mind.

Caesar toiled beneath a bleak winter sky. The day had barely begun for him and yet he was already tired and thirsty. If the girl had not smuggled him a modicum of food and water last night, there was no way that he could have managed this arduous chore of his, on top of everything that he had already endured. Caesar was still quite unsure why the Colonel had simply not executed him and Koba the way he'd casually killed Percy. Was he afraid that like him, he would turn both of the apes into martyrs? Or did he simply think that it sent a better message to the other apes to show that even Caesar and Koba had been reduced to toiling for the humans.

If the Colonel thinks that by breaking him would break the will of the apes, he was wrong.

With a huff, Caesar had paused momentarily to peer furtively at the yard below, where the impatient human overseers were still trying to get the wary, slow-moving apes over to the wall. Scanning the crowded, hectic scene, Caesar spotted Rocket among a chain gang, consisting of him, Ash and Winter, that was just now being dragged out of the pens. That the hairless chimp had been beaten badly only hours ago did not exempt him from being put to work along with the other apes, it seemed.

Just as it fit their plans of escape.

Rocket, and many of the other apes surreptitiously made eye contact with Caesar, confirming that they were all ready to play their part. Confident that Rocket and the others would get the job done, Caesar next sought out Tinker, Judy, Lake and Maple. They and many of the other females had paused not far from the children's pens to pick up their tools and ropes for the day. They all lingered a bit longer by the children before finally making their way towards the wall as the human came at them with prods and whips.

Then there was Koba, the lone bonobo who had to haul slabs of stone and wood by himself. The scarred bonobo was given a wheelbarrow to work with and he strained against his chains as they provided him with limited movement. But Koba strode onward and would do his best to draw the attention of the human soldiers and turncoats away from the others.

Caesar watched as Rocket, Ash and Winter observed carefully and covertly as the bulkier chimpanzee trudged ploddingly toward the wall, his downcast eyes fixed on his feet, counting every step as his group approached an obsolete train signal switch posted by the old railway track running through the yard. The very same switch that Rocket had informed them before, marking the location of the underground tunnel Rocket himself had dug through.

Rocket, Ash and Winter passed the switch before inconspicuously signing upward in Caesar's direction.

 _Thirty-seven._

To anyone not trained with their eyes, one would have thought that Rocket was merely waving at a fellow ape in the distance. But of course, that was so much more. With Koba drawing most of the soldiers and turncoats' attention away as he _accidentally_ dropped his wheelbarrow, it had given Rocket and the others the chance to relay their message.

Caesar nodded back at Rocket and his group before turning a worry at Koba. The scarred bonobo seemed to be doing quite a good job as Koba merely scowled at the other soldiers who yelled at him, earning him a few good whips from the turncoats. Shifting his gaze toward Tinker and her group during the distraction, they had already reached the train light switch. Lake had quickly then turned to look up at Caesar as well.

 _Fifty-five._

He acknowledged the message with a nod, adding it to the information that he had just received from Rocket. Turning his eyes back to the commotion, he had let out a relieved breath as Koba was shoved away toward the broken pieces of stones and began to load up his wheelbarrow.

Glad that no one got hurt too severely, Caesar then peered across the wall at a distant outcropping beyond the camp, where Rocket had told him that the others would be hiding and waiting. The monumental rock formation squatted like an island on the vast frozen waste past the canyon. Squinting his eyes, he then could make out what looked like a large shaggy form lurking behind the boulders…

…

Maurice spotted Caesar upon the ledge. He had been monitoring the camp for hours, after Bad Ape had told him that the humans were letting the other apes out of the pens to work. Ever since Rocket had bravely walked right into the humans' base to distract the soldiers and, hopefully, make contact with Caesar and the others. The plan all along had been for Rocket to find some way to signal Maurice from inside the camp, perhaps even from the wall or quarries. It was discussed between the both of them as they had made that breakthrough within the tunnel, but were not quite sure on how to proceed. Noticing Caesar, the orangutan hoped that Rocket had been able to share their plan with their leader at some point during the night, so that their captured friend knew what to do.

Maurice had let out a happy breath when it looked like Caesar had spotted him and paused long enough to sign from across the distance between them:

 _Thirty-Seven steps to the adult cage… fifty-five to the children._

With that, Caesar had quickly turned back around and began chipping away at the stone wall again as to not draw suspicion. Lowering the binoculars within his hands, Maurice grunted before he rounded himself to the child and regarded her for a moment. He looked her over before handing her the binoculars to hold onto. The child accepted them before looking back up at the shaggy ape.

Maurice pointed to the child, then up at his eyes. He then indicated by pointing to his own eyes and then at the campgrounds to let the girl know that he wanted her to keep a lookout and gave her the binoculars. He hoped by giving her a job he would encourage her to stay put and out of sight, as well as danger. Understanding, the girl simply nodded and perched herself upon the stones. Maurice was quite amused by the seriousness of her expression while taking upon the task, but that was well. They really did need someone to look out for them.

Maurice then got Bad Ape's attention and led the way back down into the tunnel where the others were. Maurice had then directed them all to where he and Rocket had excavated until they had reached the train switch, using it as a landmark. Double-checking his position Maurice then pointed out two different tunnel ways.

" _We have to go down each tunnel and dig our way up toward the surface,_ " he indicated. " _Clear the pathways of all debris._ "

The others, including Bad Ape nodded eagerly. Maurice had directed the two groups; he was going to be in charge of the right side of the tunnel with Andy, while Grey and Bad Ape head down the other. Since Grey was the one that had revitalized enough for now, he and Bad Ape were the best ones to tackle a tunnel way themselves while Maurice was going to do most of the digging on his end with Andy, whom was still recovering. Spear on the other hand was going to keep watch at the end of both tunnels, in case anything were to happen.

All knowing what their roles were, they all separated from each other and began their tasks.

Walking down the dark tunnel, Bad Ape and Grey could see that there were many things that were blocking their path. With a sigh the two had put down the light and began to move the debris to clear the tunnel way, getting it ready for the others when they were free. While working at the task, Grey couldn't help but uneasily glance over at his companion, seeing the lankier chimp enthusiastically work away as he cleared a lot of the ground work. As far as he, Andy and Spear understood, this chimpanzee was somewhat of an odd case. A hermit ape, who stuck out on his own for many years until he was found by Caesar and the others. So as Maurice had told them. Grey couldn't help but wonder how a lone ape like this newcomer could survive by himself for so long.

Noticing that brown haired chimpanzee was staring, Bad Ape rounded his gaze upon the other simian and offered a giant smile upon his lips as he continued to work.

"You friend?" Bad Ape asked.

Grey couldn't help but furrowed his brows at the lankier chimp but kept quiet as he continued his task.

"Bad Ape," Bad Ape introduced himself, stopping momentarily to place a hand over his own chest and then continuing. "Your name?"

Noticing that this other chimp was not taking things quite seriously, Grey merely frowned in response and refocused his attention upon the task in front of him. Bad Ape seemed to have noticed Grey's change of mood upon asking the question and he quietly turned his attention back to the wall as well, keeping quiet.

As Grey continued to work away, he couldn't help but glance over at Bad Ape once more and saw the melancholy Chimpanzee lugging away several pieces of sheet of metal. Seeing Bad Ape, Grey couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. It wasn't his fault that everyone was tense at the situation and Bad Ape was only trying to greet them, since he's been along for so long. Grey remembered how fearful this new chimpanzee was of "the bad place," as he kept calling it. However, the hermit ape seemed to be willing to do whatever was necessary to help Caesar and the others. So Grey shouldn't resent this new companion who was only trying to help.

"Grey."

Bad Ape perked up and turned his giant green eyes upon the brown haired chimpanzee who continued with the excavation, before stopping momentarily to regard him.

"Name. Grey," Grey spoke up.

Upon finding out what his new friend's name was, Bad Ape beamed in response at Grey. Grey on the other hand seemed to be in better spirits and simply looked up from where they stood. He then walked back towards the flashlights while counting his steps. Once finished he grabbed a couple of metal poles and made his way back on over to where Bad Ape was.

"We dig," Grey spoke up as he handed Bad Ape one of the poles.

Both chimpanzees then turned their attention upward and began digging upward towards the surface.

…

Night finally fell and all of the apes were being led back into their cages for the evening. Caesar couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to all of the apes now, since war for the humans was just around the corner and on its way. Would the apes simply be caught in the middle of all of this?

 _Their only hope was to escape from here._

Feeling a harsh tug on his collar, Caesar stumbled as Red yanked on his chains. Leading him back to where he was caged up before. Once they have arrived at the cage, Preacher unlocked it, while Red kept a tight hold upon the ape king. As Cesar was pushed inside and was made to turn around, both he and Red made eye contact with one another as the gorilla began to undo his bindings.

"You know… Kerna shoot apes… when war is done," Red huffed.

It saddened Caesar greatly to hear such words coming from one of their own. He looked past Red at Preacher, who averted his eyes. Taking this as a clear confirmation that Red was telling the truth, Caesar slowly let his gaze wander back on over to Red's very own acid-green eyes.

"His war is madness," Caesar responded gravely. "It won't save him… any more than it will save you."

An irritated look overcame Red's features.

"I save myself," Red answered.

Caesar's features then took on a pitying look and he simply met Red's hard gaze.

"Is there anything left of you to save?" Caesar asked.

Red's spiteful expression gave way as he worked at Caesar's collar. A look of uncertainty as Caesar's words struck him hard. The rusted haired gorilla seemed to be struggling to come up with a dismissive reply, but couldn't find a convincing one. All he could manage was another hostile glare before roughly yanking the collar off of the ape leader before slowly walking away.

Watching Red take his leave, Caesar turned his gaze onto Preacher who kept avoiding his accusing stare. The young man then turned to leave but paused a moment to glance back at Caesar one last time. Despite everything that has happened, a slight trace of regret could be seen on the young man's face.

"You must've known this fighting would never stop," Preacher said quietly. "It was always going to come down to this. It was going to be you… or us."

Looking away from Preacher, Caesar watched as the other turncoats had thrown Koba into a cage, one empty space between them. Watching as they unlocked Koba's bindings, Caesar never really quite believed that it was just as Preacher had said. He still didn't want to believe it, knowing that things could change… if given the chance.

But… could he really say for certain that Preacher wasn't right?

Turning back to face the young soldier, wishing that matters had not come to this. Both Caesar and Preacher locked eyes for a mere moment before whistles blew into the night, calling the work crews away. With that, Preacher spared the ape king one last glance before marching off into the darkness.

Once the soldiers and turncoat apes were out of sight, Caesar turned to look at Koba who seemed a lot worse for wear. The scarred bonobo however, managed to sit up in his cage and simply looked around, thoroughly exhausted from his labors.

" _You think… that Maurice and the others got the message?_ " Koba signed as he turned to look at Caesar.

" _They must. Otherwise, all is lost,_ " Caesar responded.

…

The girl watched as the apes were being lead down from the wall. The bad men with guns made them go back toward their cages, signalling that they were done for the evening. As she looked through her binoculars, she could see that more heavy weaponry was placed upon the top of the wall. She now realized that she could not longer sneak into the bad place anymore, even if she had wanted to.

Lowering the binoculars in her hand, the child stared silently at the distant camps, worried about the apes and what the human soldiers were going to do to them. Knowing well that they had already hurt her friends when she had snuck in before.

Wondering where her other friends were at, under the ground. The child wondered if something had happened to them. Concerned, she moved away from her spot and climbed down into the pit and went searching for them. As she traversed the tunnel, she held her arms close to her body, afraid of the looming shadows within the dark, but she braved on, hoping to see her new friends and tell them of what was going on. Eventually she came to a section of the tunnel that split off into two paths and sitting in the middle of the path.

Is an ape.

If the child could remember, this ape was one of the new ones that they had found atop of the cliff and was sleeping for a long time. The sinewy chimpanzee raised his head and his face lit up in surprise when he saw her. Looking past the girl the chimp then glanced back at her and beckoned her over. The girl quietly walked up to the other ape and looked at him curiously.

"Child?" the ape spoke up, not used to using his vocal chords.

The girl however nodded simply and then made a gesture with her hands in a big motion. The chimpanzee tilted his head in confusion at the girl but she continued to spread her arms out, hoping that the ape understood that she was looking for their big friend.

It took a brief moment but Spear finally understood what the girl was trying to sign to him. At first he was confused as to why the girl was throwing her hands out around her but then took notice that she was trying to sign _big ape_ -Maurice.

A happy smile spread upon the girls' features as Spear pointed down the tunnel toward his left as he finally got her question. Ecstatic that he understood her the girl reached out and gave the chimpanzee a quick hug before bolting down the tunnel towards her right, leaving the ape confused as he stood there.

As she rushed down the tunnel the girl smiled as the comforting glow of light up ahead indicated that her friend was there. Drawn to the light, like moths to a flame, the girl quickened her pace toward the source.

…

Maurice and Andy were busy at pulling away at some woodwork that clogged up one of the tunnels. The two were baffled as to why it was clogged up as so when they had located it, but nonetheless they toiled at their task. The two of them knew naught how long they were down in the tunnels but soft footsteps from behind alerted the two apes of the girl's arrival. Pausing, Maurice looked back at the child and acknowledge her presence. It then dawned on him that they had perhaps left the girl alone on the surface for longer than they should have. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Maurice rounded himself to look back at Andy.

" _Go, I'll continue here,_ " the chimpanzee signed before turning away and began to pull away at the woodwork again.

Thankful of Andy, Maurice turned back around to face the girl and searched her face before pointing to the ceiling.

" _Apes going back to the cage?_ " He asked.

Despite the child knowing very little sign language, she seemed to have understood him and nodded in response. Maurice couldn't help but smile warmly at the girl, pleased that she had apparently understood him.

" _You are very brave,_ " he signed to the child.

" _Brave?_ " the girl mimicked.

" _Brave,_ " Maurice continued.

" _Brave!_ " the girl copied once more, a smile enveloping her features in glee.

However, after a brief moment, the girl's smile dimmed as a new thought seemed to occur to her, dampening her spirits. She raised her hands in inquiry.

" _Ape?_ " The girl indicated at herself.

Maurice was not sure what she was asking as he tilted his head at her, giving her a puzzled look.

" _Me?_ " the girl signed again. " _Ape?_ "

At this, Maurice now understood as to what the girl was asking of him. She was mute of course, but definitely not blind. She had noticed that she looked more like a human than and ape, despite her present company. He couldn't blame her for being confused, although he was uncertain how to respond to her inquiry. There was no easy answer here, or at least not one that wouldn't leave her more conflicted about her own identity than before. Humans were the enemy to the child and the apes were her protectors and friends. So, what was he to tell her?

That was when he saw the glint within the pocket of the parka the girl was wearing and a thought came to mind.

" _You are…_ "

Maurice then leaned forward and gently plucked the chrome car emblem that was gifted to the girl from Bad Ape. He showed the girl the shiny trinket, with its gleaming letters spelling out a name.

"Nova," Maurice said aloud, pointing a finger at the girl."Nova."

When Maurice announced the girl's new name, a pure smile of happiness broke out across her face. As the new name was given to her, the girl now knew who and what she was.

She was Nova.

As the girl silently thought about her new name and position with the apes, Andy had came up from behind and looked both Maurice and Nova over.

" _You named her?_ " he asked.

" _Yes, I did,_ " Maurice responded.

As Andy continued to watch both the human girl and Maurice, he could see the fatherly look upon the older ape's features. He knew naught and who this girl was to Maurice and the others but apparently it was enough for the older ape to have some sort of parental feelings for the child.

All of a sudden an urgent grunt intruded on the moment and all head turned toward the entrance of the tunnel to see Bad Ape appearing at the mouth, looking worked up. For a moment they had all thought that something had gone wrong, but then realized that the lanky chimpanzee seemed more excited than alarmed.

"Come! Come see!" Bad Ape said eagerly as he waived his flashlight around. "Come see! New friend Grey and I- Come! Come see!"

Bad Ape didn't even finish what he was saying before he disappeared for a moment and then reappeared gesturing for them all to follow. Curious as to why Bad Ape was so worked up, the other followed him. In their haste, they had failed to notice a trickle of water seeping through the blocked tunnel that they were digging through.

* * *

 **A slightly shorter chapter for you all this time. Apologies for the inactivity, holiday and personal stuff took me a while. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter.**

 **Andy, Grey and Spear are back in the game, sort of... but they're going to be helping the others this time around to get the apes out of the compound.**


	67. Chapter 67

"Come! Come! Look!" Bad Ape beckoned to the others behind him.

Bad Ape counted out his steps, intent on his feet as he led Maurice, Nova, Andy and now a curious Spear down the cleared tunnel. Reaching the end of the passageway, they all spotted Grey leaning heavily on the pole, waiting for them.

"...thirty-five… thirty-six… thirty! Thirty-seven!" Bad Ape announced as he spun around on the spot next to Grey, beaming at the others.

Bad Ape threw out his hands to show both his and Grey's handiwork of the area. Quite pleased with what they had both accomplished by themselves.

 _As he should be_ , Maurice thought, admiring the two chimpanzee's progress.

While Nova mutely joined Bad Ape in his jubilation, Maurice had made his way over toward Grey, consulting with the other chimpanzee.

" _Did you two have any trouble?_ " Maurice asked the brown haired chimp.

" _Not too much. We had to clear a lot of the wreckage that was blocking our way. To make a clear path for the others when they come on through,_ " Grey explained. " _He did most of the digging though,_ " Grey indicated with a nod at the scrawny chimp.

Maurice glanced at Bad Ape and approached the lankier chimpanzee with a small compass in his hands. Once the device indicated that they were right where they should be, Maurice nodded approvingly at both Bad Ape and Grey before curiously glancing up at the ceiling. From his point of view, Maurice could just make out the small dots of bright light from above.

"What now?" Bad Ape had asked.

Now that was the question. What to do now? Since he is the biggest among them, someone had to climb onto his back-as sore as it was from all of the digging-but who? He couldn't ask Grey and the others, as they were already dreadfully tired from their own ordeals. He was lucky enough that the three wounded chimps had even the energy to stand and work. Nova was much too short and wouldn't even reach the ceiling even if she had climbed on top of him.

That only leaves…

With a grunt, Maurice quickly lowered himself and after settling into position, he gestured at Bad Ape to climb onto his back, just as Rocket had done so before. With any luck in mind, the scrawny chimp should weigh less than Rocket and the others around him, providing him some relief. Not only that, Bad Ape should be tall enough to be able to reach at the hole up above.

Bad Ape however did not seem to quite understand what Maurice was indicating. He looked up at the other three apes curiously before staring back at the shaggy ape with a baffled expression.

"What?" Bad Ape asked.

Maurice couldn't help but mentally sigh to himself, wishing that Bad Ape was more fluent in sign language, like the others. However, it couldn't be helped, since Bad Ape had not lived with their colony and had to use speech instead to communicate. But time was of the essence and they had to act swiftly. He quickly gestured to his back again impatiently to hopefully relay his message to the still confused chimp. Caesar, Koba, Rocket and the others were all counting on them.

Scratching his head curiously, Bad Ape pointed at Maurice's backside and then slowly let his eyes travel up toward the ceiling. It took him a moment as his mind pieced together what Maurice was trying to tell him to do. However, as it dawned on him, Bad Ape's face warped to that of utter terror.

"Ohhh, no," Bad Ape whimpered loudly. "No, no, no…"

He looked at the other three apes around him and at Nova for backup but only received stern glares and mute silence.

"Nooooo…"

It was here that Maurice slowly righted himself back up and was staring at Bad Ape who was backing slowly away. Heaving a sigh, Grey had just stepped in and was about to offer to climb up toward the hole when Maurice had let out a low, menacing growl from his throat sac, startling everyone within the vicinity.

Now, Maurice was very much a gentle soul, even among the apes within the colony. However, with that being said, Maurice was still an ape and prone to his emotions as well. Especially in dire circumstances that forced them to act on something.

Once Maurice had gotten his message on through to Bad Ape, the scrawny chimpanzee lowered his arms slightly, still keeping eye contact with the shaggier ape in front of him.

"Okay," Bad Ape responded meekly.

With a satisfied grunt, Maurice lowered himself back down while Bad Ape readied himself to climb on top of the orangutan. Meanwhile Grey, Andy and Spear looked at each other in mute silence and all shook their heads at each other.

…

Bad Ape swallowed hard as he handed his flashlight on over to Grey and timidly climbed onto Maurice's back. Rising up toward the hole in the ceiling with his arms held close to his body, Bad Ape slowly glanced back down at the others, his fear evident upon his tired eyes.

He was scared.

However, Grey and the other two chimps cooed out to him, reassuring him that everything was going to be alright. As he stood on the shaggier ape's wide shoulders, Bad Ape took in a deep breath before he breathed out deeply and stretched his arms above his head, reluctantly digging and making a shaft toward the surface. He couldn't believe that he was actually doing this, clawing his way up toward the bad, bad place. He of course understood that they were trying to free Caesar, Rocket, the angry one, and the others… but did they not know how hopeless that all of this was? The camp was full of terrible humans with guns, who beat up on apes and tortured them and sometimes even shot them. This also included the very bad apes who hurt others as well. It was no place for an ape… or even the little human child that was with them. Nova, they had started to call her.

Not for the first time, Bad Ape wished that he had stayed on his mountain where it was safe. He had been alone, without any friends, but at least he had not been afraid all the time. Like he was now.

Dirt fell down from the hole upon Bad Ape's face as he kept on digging with just a bit of light filtering through. Bad Ape's heart both rose and sank when he had broken through the surface. Yanking his finger's back, he glanced back down at the others, whom were all expectantly looking back up at him. Taking a deep breath, Bad Ape strained his neck as he peered up through the hole-right at the boots of a human soldier.

Freezing up and eyes going wide, Bad Ape quickly darted his eyes upward to see that the human was distracted for the moment, watching the other apes being corralled into the pens. Slowly, Bad Ape then shrunk away from the hole and ducked back inside. As he continued to look up at the human's boot, Bad Ape then noticed one of the other apes-a gorilla white white hair-meeting his gaze and stared confusingly at him, blinking in surprise. Panicking, Bad Ape mouthed the word "no," while he shook his head side to side quickly.

The gorilla looked at Bad Ape a little longer, seeing his distress, but understood easily. Covertly, the gorilla glanced up at the oblivious soldier before casually looking away as if nothing had happened. Bad Ape watched as the gorilla nudged at one of the others and gestured something while still keeping his eyes forward. The other apes quickly glanced in Bad Ape's direction with their eyes, raised their brows but kept a straight face as well. Slowly the other apes around took notice but kept a neutral expression upon their features while they kept on the lookout, just in case.

Bad Ape was surprised to see how coordinative they all were. Especially with just a few quick gestures with their hands. But nonetheless, they kept his whereabouts secret, and that was all that mattered.

For just a moment longer the human soldier moved along, still oblivious of the hole right beside his feet and onward toward the gates. Peering his head up from the hole, Bad Ape watched along with the other apes as the humans closed the gates to the pens and locked it.

Letting out a relieved breath, Bad Ape took a moment to close his eyes and compose himself before he slowly turned his attention on over to the other apes and curiously look up at them. From among the crowd of apes, one of them shoved his way forward and met Bad Ape's gaze. The lanky chimp couldn't help but beam at the other individual, finally recognizing Rocket-his good friend. The bulkier chimp looked worse for wear, with his face all swollen and bruised, but a giant smile graced his lips and he knelt down slowly and regarded Bad Ape.

…

Rocket himself had never been so glad to see that silly ape's smile. For a while, Rocket himself had worried that Maurice and Bad Ape had not receive their message from Caesar, but all that doubt was cast away the moment Bad Ape popped his head right out of the ground.

It must have taken them a lot longer to dig than he had thought… No matter, the important thing was that they were here now.

" _This is the ape I told you about!_ " Rocket signed at the others around him.

Upon seeing what Rocket had signed to them, the other apes stared at Bad Ape in fascination.

Winter-the gorilla who had spotted Bad Ape first-came forward and greeted the strange new chimp.

" _Thank you,_ " the younger male had signed in genuine thanks.

Instead of responding, Bad Ape had looked at Winter curiously. Confused the white haired gorilla moved a little closer to the hole where this strange ape was and offered him a hand. The others watched curiously as the newcomer retreated back into the hole before thin gangly fingers reached back out and took a hold of Winter's hand, shaking it up and down with a firm grip.

"Bad Ape," the others could hear the other chimpanzee introduce himself.

At this, more apes jostled forward to get a look at this new ape, greeting him warmly and Bad Ape shook each of their hands in turn. His earlier bashfulness evaporated and it seemed as though he couldn't meet all his new family fast enough.

Rocket could see the happiness upon Bad Ape's face as he met the other, the smaller chimpanzee's eyes becoming moist and voice full of emotion with each new greeting. Feeling fingers close around his own hand, Rocket turned his head to see Tinker standing by his side, a warm smile upon her features.

" _This is the new ape that travelled with you?_ " Tinker signed.

Rocket grunted and nodded in confirmation as he turned back to look at the scene for a brief second before meeting his beloved's gaze once more.

" _He must have been so lonely, all this time,_ " Tinker continued.

" _Yes, he was,_ " Rocket agreed. " _But he is here now. He is one of us. A part of our family._ "

" _I would not have it any other way,_ " Tinker confirmed as she leaned her head upon Rocket's shoulder.

…

Grey and the others peered up at the shaft, trying to figure out what was happening high above on top of Maurice. They could see that Bad Ape was practically dancing on the orangutan's overworked shoulders, while beams of artificial light invaded the tunnel from above. Something must have happened as Bad Ape was chatting up a storm with whomever he was speaking to.

" _I wonder… who he is talking to?_ " Spear gestured curiously.

" _He needs to stop talking with the others and tell us what was going on,_ " Andy signed impatiently off from the side with a scowl to his face. " _We need to inform them of what to do._ "

" _How are you doing, Maurice?_ " Grey turned to ask the orangutan who merely nodded his head once to relay that he was doing well.

While everyone else was preoccupied with whatever it was that Bad Ape was doing up at the shaft, Nova glanced over toward the tunnel and noticed something quite not right. Reaching over, she gave her guardian a few pats on the shoulder to get his attention before pointing down the tunnel. The others, sans Bad Ape, followed to where Nova was pointing down the tunnel and could see a small stream of water flowing toward them.

As the cold water suddenly pooled around their feet, Maurice and the others reeled back in alarm. Anxious to find out where the water was coming from, before it flooded the entire tunnel, Maurice was the first to rush forward to investigate it, momentarily forgetting the chimpanzee on his shoulders. With a surprised cry, Bad Ape tumbled down from off of Maurice's shoulder and right into the water beneath them.

Wincing at the sound of the loud thud from their partner, Maurice had quickly reeled back around to make sure that Bad Ape was unharmed. The lanky chimp however, glanced back up at the others, shaken but unhurt from the looks of it. Bad Ape's curious eyes then looked around him, surprised to see that water was flooding the tunnel. Glancing back up at the others momentarily, Bad Ape then turned his attention up toward the shaft, to where Rocket was peering down from, no doubt worried by the other chimp's sudden disappearance.

" _What's wrong?_ " he signed.

…

Water gushed from one of the tunnel entrances that Maurice and Andy were working on before. Sticks, mud, and other debris were holding the water back but with their handiwork, they had dislodged an opening and allowed the water to push on through.

" _We have to close this!_ " Grey signed immediately.

Agreeing, Maurice and Andy worked together with the brown haired chimp to close the manhole cover from above. After sealing the lid shut and securing the lock, everyone looked around themselves in slight horror, knowing well that the way to the children's pen was now blocked off.

" _What do we do now?_ " Andy asked hesitantly after a brief moment. " _This was our only path to the children._ "

" _We must tell this to Rocket and others. Come!_ " Maurice gestured quickly as he led the way back to where the adult pen was.

…

Caesar and Koba pressed themselves against the bars of their cages, to better take part in an urgent discussion with the apes in the pen. Seeing Rocket sign with the others the nearly hairless chimpanzee then stood up and faced the both of them.

" _We can't dig any further,_ " Rocket insisted. " _It will flood the whole tunnel!_ "

But Tinker and many of the other females among them refused to accept that answer from her mate.

" _If we don't, then how are we going to reach our children?_ " the more petite chimpanzee signed from the other side of Rocket.

The anxious parents of many of the young ones agreed with Tinker, sharing in her concern. The plan had been to dig a separate shaft up to the children's pen, allowing them to escape via the underground tunnels as well, but the unexpected flooding had made that impossible. The agitated grunting grew louder as distraught apes demanded that their offsprings be rescued no matter what, despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacle posed by the leak.

Growing concern at the increasingly noisy debate from the others, Caesar held up his hand to quiet them all, sparing a glance around at the various guards posted within earshot of them. Right now, the apes' survival depended on silence and secrecy; the last thing they wanted to do was alert their foes on the very brink of their escape. But was it already too late? Rocket and the others looked up at the guard tower directly above Caesar and Koba's cage as a soldier stopped over to the edge of the catwalk to investigate the noise. As the soldier stood there for a few moments longer and seeing that the apes were keeping themselves looking as docile as they could be, the man grunted and walked back into his tower. Letting out a relieved breath. Caesar had then turned his attention to the others once more.

" _We have to be careful,_ " Caesar warned.

" _Don't make so much noise,_ " Koba added in.

All of the apes lowered their heads at almost being caught but Tinker stood her ground.

" _We must keep looking down there,_ " she had signed. " _Find a way to reach our children. We will not leave them behind._ "

At this, Caesar agreed.

" _And we must leave now!_ " Caesar followed up after Tinker, toward everyone else. " _More soldiers are coming! Humans will destroy each other! And us with them!_ "

At this revelation all of the apes looked at one another in confusion and worry.

"What do you mean, Caesar?" Koba's spoke up from the side, catching the ape leader's attention. " _What do you mean that more soldiers are coming? To destroy each other?_ " He continued with sign.

Caesar couldn't help feeling terrible from keeping this information from the others but now was a matter of time. Time that they did not have.

" _No time to explain, just trust me on this,_ " Caesar gestured quickly back around.

He then glanced behind him to where he could see his little Cornelius sleeping close to Cinder and Silver among with the other young apes in their pen.

" _We'll have to get the children out above ground!_ " Caesar signed.

" _How?_ " Rocket and Tinker asked at the same time.

At this question, Caesar was at a loss. The original plan was to use the tunnels as it would have been better, he thought. But now… Hearing a grunt from the other side of his cage, Caesar then turned to look at Koba whom was getting all of the other apes attention as well.

" _We can still save the children!_ " Koba signed quickly, causing the others to look at him confusingly. " _Like Caesar said. We have to get them above ground. Look!_ "

Everyone followed to where Koba was pointing and there they noticed for the first time, two giant poles at each of the pens with electrical wires connected to them. At that point it was all made clear to them.

That was how they will get the children out.

…

" _Would that even work?_ " Grey signed up skeptically at Rocket.

" _It will work,_ " Rocket signed back down. " _Humans are very quick to anger._ "

With that the bulky chimpanzee disappeared from the opening, leaving the others to simply stand there and wait for the signal.

" _What is he planning to do?_ " Andy asked Grey, to which the brown haired chimp simply shook his head side to side in dismay.

There was an uneasy feeling between the apes who stood there who knew Rocket well. Not to say that they did not trust their good friend by any means. But Rockets way of going about things were… quite temerarious, even for ape standards. But Rocket wouldn't be Rocket if he didn't go about doing things his own way.

" _Come, we'll have to be ready when the time is right,_ " Grey gestured to the others. " _Help me up._ "

...

" _Father… what are you doing?_ " Ash asked skeptically, as the older ape bent down and started to gather up something.

Ash took a step back as the older ape rose up from the ground and formed what looked like a mud ball within his hands, smiling all the while. Mud? Where did his father find mud? Especially on a cold night like this? There was no way that there was any source of water that would be used to make a mud ball, especially since it was such a life sustaining substance. However, the longer he thought about it, the more it slowly became clear to him.

" _Father is that?_ " Ash asked in surprise, as he glanced up at the smirking older ape.

Glancing at his mother, Ash could see the disgusted look upon her features, knowing absolutely well what his father was doing.

" _Watch and see,_ " Rocket signed to his son, whom only stared back confusingly.

The nearly hairless chimp then raised his head and glanced up at the catwalk from below to see that the human soldier walking around on it. Once the human had turned around, Rocket then took aim and then launched the mud ball right into the back of the man's head. Rocket's smile widened as he saw the human soldier's head flinch from the impact before reaching a hand back to touch at the mud caked to his head. Rocket and if not all of the apes could see the vein throbbing furiously upon the man's temple as he turned around and glared down at them.

"Hey! You animals!" the man shouted angrily.

Watching the human soldier charging down from the ladder, Rocket quickly bent back down and started to gather another mud ball. Just as he rose back up from the ground, Rocket could see the human soldier storming into the pen, sliding the gate shut behind him before raising his rifle at waiving it at the lot of them.

"Who did that?" the human soldier demanded as he ventured further into the pen. "Who did that?!" his voice rose a little higher.

Seeing one of the chimpanzees-this one with white flecked colors around his mouth-the man glared at the ape and pointed his gun at him.

"Who was it?!"

The chimp however glanced at the man's weapon and simply met his eyes very slowly.

"Was it you?" the man asked in an icy tone.

Just then, another wad of the muck struck into the side of the man's head, stunning him slightly. Still stunned, the man turned his head slowly to the side, seeing many of the apes scampering out of the way, exposing the culprit who had been hiding among them. It was none other than the bald chimpanzee who had been caught sneaking into the camp the night before, the same one the soldiers and other donkeys beaten up before.

Rocket glared at the man while tossing the ball of matter up and down in his hand.

So furious was the human, he pointed his gun right at the nearly hairless chimp, failing to notice two furry hands rising up from the ground, just right behind him. Before the man could fire his gun, the hands quickly latched themselves around the man's ankles and pulled backwards hard, yanking the startled soldier out of sight and into the hole.

The apes waited in anticipation as they peered ever so slightly and flinched when they all heard a loud thud from below. The sound could only mean one thing and to the apes it only meant that the man would not be threatening them all anymore, or ever again. Before long, a set of keys flew out of the hole and landed right beside it.

Quickly dropping the material, Rocket then cleaned his hands before rushing over to where the keys were. Picking it up, he then peered into the hole where Maurice and the others were handing the human soldier's rifle back up toward him.

" _Good job. All of you!_ " Rocket commended.

" _You too!_ " Spear gestured back up before looking off into the direction where Grey and Andy were dragging the human's body away.

" _We must hurry!_ " Maurice quickly reminded the others.

With a grunting nod from all parties, Rocket stood back up and walked over to the gate of their pen and showed both Koba and Caesar the keys within his hand. The two other apes couldn't help but let relief settled upon their faces that the plan had actually worked.

* * *

 **Things are moving along now. There still quite a bit of things that still have to be done before the apes are able to free themselves.**

 **Also for curiosity's sake, I promise I did not forget about Blue Eyes. The lad is just taking a much needed rest in the back burner. He did just suffer a bullet to the head and he's going to need a lot of time to recover. We'll get back to him soon.**

 **If anyone is still enjoying the story, do feel free to leave a comment. For all of you who are still sticking with this fic, I do thank you.**

 **Happy Readings!**


	68. Chapter 68

**Double chapter this week for you all!**

* * *

The moment Rocket had showed them the keys, both Caesar and Koba were already preparing themselves when it was their turn to be released. First, of course, had to be the others while they all made a silent escape through the hole. Just as Rocket and the others were about to release themselves from their bindings, the sounds of approaching footsteps sent all of their hearts racing. They all craned their necks and were dismayed to see the Colonel heading toward them, despite the rather late hour.

Caesar straightened himself and shot Rocket a warning look, whom immediately hid the captured rifle behind his back, as well as the keys within his hands. If they were lucky, the Colonel had not already spotted the weapon. If so, the apes' attempt would be over almost before it had begun. However, the Colonel didn't even spare a glance at the ape enclosure. Instead the man simply gazed pensively at the completed wall looking at the far end of the canyon, taking the sight in.

Silently glancing at the other, Caesar could see them signing at him, asking him what was going on, to which he simply held out his hand and shook his head slowly at them. Letting his gaze wander on back to the Colonel however, Caesar himself was curious as to why the man was out and about. If he were to assume, he would think that the man was worried about the upcoming battle that would ensue between him and the northern human army. Maybe, if the Colonel was distracted enough, he would move on soon and leave them to escape.

Caesar and the others watched tensely, silently urging the Colonel to return to his lair. After a brief moment though, the Colonel had turned away from the wall and stared right at the cages that held both Caesar and Koba, a stern look upon his features. Instead of heading back to his tower as they had all hoped, the Colonel instead detoured toward both Caesar and Koba's cages. As the Colonel drew nearer and nearer, Caesar could see a canteen that was held within the man's left hand, while Koba merely bared his fangs at the human.

The Colonel stopped in front of Koba's cage and regarded him for just a second before moving on and stopping right in front of where Caesar stood. Staring off into the distance the man stood there silently, thinking, wondering, pondering on what to say to Caesar.

"You can take comfort," the Colonel spoke up after what seemed like an eternity. "Your struggle ends. Ours goes on. Nature still has the power to wipe us off this planet at any moment. It killed the dinosaurs with a single meteor."

At this, Caesar couldn't make sense of what the man was saying and quickly glanced in Koba's direction, who looked just as confused. Caesar then rounded his head back to the Colonel, as the man had slowly turned to look at him and approached his cage. Caesar eased himself back just a tad bit as the Colonel stuck his head right by the bars of his cage.

"You apes… are so strong. I wonder… what kind of world you would have built… on our graves."

The man seemed to trail off for a moment, leaving Caesar and Koba to ponder the man's odd demeanor. Was he simply drunk? Or was he feeling guilty or just contemplating his mortality in anticipation of the battle that was going to happen? He seemed to be talking more to himself than to Caesar, who remained still.

"You know, when I first came to the city. A man had said he had to see me, and said… that he knew you… that you both had worked together."

At this revelation, Caesar's eyes widened and knew that there was only one person the Colonel could be referring to.

"Malcom…?"

At the mention of Malcolm's name, Caesar could see Koba going stiff within his own cage.

" _Stupid Human?_ " Koba signed.

Drawing in on himself, Caesar remembered the man, a friend to the apes so long ago. After he had gotten back into the forest and found Malcolm and his family, Caesar had urged them to flee the war that they had tragically failed to avert. It took a while of convincing but Caesar was able to make Malcolm and his family take their leave with Blue Eyes, Ash, Rocket and… Koba.

Caesar's voice jarred the Colonel from his reverie and simply stared at the ape leader.

"He said that you were remarkable, " the Colonel spoke up. "More than just an animal… that you were a great leader."

The man then shook his head slowly at the memory.

"I thought he was crazy… And he pleaded with me to find you and make peace with you."

Caesar kept quiet and simply stared at the strange man, wondering what had happened between his and Malcolm's exchange. Caesar could recall that Malcolm was one of the very few humans who cared deeply about taking care of people. Be they human or simian. It was no different for the man and his family, as they saw that all life was precious.

"What did you do?" Caesar inquired.

The Colonel didn't answer at first; he just stared mutely at the ground, lost in his own thoughts and memories. Caesar wasn't sure that the Colonel had even heard his query, that was until the man finally answered.

"I shot him."

At this, Caesar's flinched at the words.

"Or rather… I did shoot at him," the Colonel suddenly corrected as if he were confused. "Except… something or somebody shot me."

The Colonel then curiously unfurled the sleeve on his right arm and presented to Caesar the bullet wound that had long since scarred over. Koba however, seemed a bit more intrigued, as something had jostled his mind, causing him to remember.

"That man. He had dangerous ideas," the Colonel continued. "He needed to be put down… but he had someone with him that night. To protect him. Now he's gone. Out there. Somewhere. Most likely poisoning the minds of others."

Hearing the Colonel speak about Malcolm escaping, Caesar couldn't help but let his eyes wander slowly to where Koba stood. The scarred bonobo met his eyes and stood strong and firm, knowing well what had happened that particular night, so long ago. Caesar did not know the exact details when he had returned back to the Muir woods after the city that night but knew that Malcolm had gone off to meet with the Colonel and was saved by Koba.

Letting his gaze wander back to the Colonel, Caesar watched as the man had grown silent. Abruptly however, the man suddenly snapped out of his daze, slightly startling both Caesar and Koba. The Colonel's head jerked up and he glanced around, almost wildly, as though trying to orient himself. A suspicious almost paranoid gleam entering his eyes.

"What's going on here?" the Colonel asked as if he was unsure of the situation at hand.

Both Caesar and Koba held their tongues, unsure of how to respond to the Colonel's ever strange behaviour. Was it the alcohol that the man had been consuming? Or was it something more? Fractured into the man's damaged psyche.

The sound of something falling onto the snow had caught the attention of Caesar, Koba and the Colonel. All whom looked down at the man's feet to discover that he had dropped the flask that he carried by his side. Caesar and Koba watched as the man slowly bent down to pick up the canteen. While the Colonel had reached for the container, it did not go unnoticed by both Caesar and Koba as the snow besides the canteen were riddled with a few drops of liquid, painting the white snow in red. As the Colonel righted himself back up, he met Caesar's piercing glare if only for a brief moment though. Caesar's face warped into that of curiosity as he noticed blood falling slightly from the man's nose.

Why was he bleeding?

Caesar nearly jumped out of his skin when the Colonel had mutely smacked the canteen of the flask upon his cage. For a slight moment, Caesar and Koba could both see that the man's usual self assurance was nowhere in evidence as he slowly walked away from the cage and retreated back to his tower.

As Caesar watched the Colonel go, he was both relieved and puzzled by the man's sudden departure. Slowly turning to look at both Rocket and Koba, he could see that they were both equally perplexed about the odd scene.

" _What was that?_ " Rocket signed from his enclosure.

Caesar however, shook his head, having no idea as he turned his attention to Koba. The scarred bonobo on the other hand, didn't sign nor speak. Instead he kept his icy cold glare in the direction where the Colonel had retreated to before letting his eyes wander back to where Caesar was. Whatever the Colonel was doing, it didn't matter. The important thing was that he was gone now and they could all get back to their plan to escape.

Wasting no time, Rocket set to work freeing himself from the chain, binding him to the other apes. He grunted with satisfaction as he stepped free and went to work with freeing Tinker next before lobbing the keys over to Ash. Following his father's example, the younger chimp quickly undid his bindings before freeing Maple, her mother, Lake, Winter and soon the others. One after another, the other apes eagerly unchained themselves and for the first time, were able to move their limbs freely.

Ash approached his father quickly and handed the set of keys back to the older ape. Rocket smiled warmly and embraced his son.

" _I'm so proud of you,_ " Rocket gestured.

" _And I you,_ " Ash signed back.

" _Go. Go help your mother and the others,_ " Rocket quickly signed back. " _I will help your uncles get your sister and the rest of the children. Be prepared for them._ "

A determined look overcame Ash's features and he nodded once at his father before bolting off in the direction where apes were already helping to expand the hole so that the bigger ones like the gorillas and orangutans could fit down it. Tinker on the other hand had made her way over to where Rocket was.

" _I am not leaving without our Cinder,_ " Tinker signed her face held in determination.

Meeting his beloved, Rocket knew that whatever he would have said would not have swayed her, especially as he too was very much the same. Smiling warmly instead, Rocket leaned forward and planted a kiss upon his mate's lips before pulling away.

" _Then wait for us,_ " Rocket signed.

" _You bring our daughter and all the children back. Both Caesar and Koba too,_ " Tinker signed back to her mate.

Just as Rocket turned around to leave, Tinker had quickly took hold of his arm and held it tightly for a moment before she embraced him strongly.

"Be. Careful," Tinker whispered.

"You too," Rocket breathed back gently as he held his mate close.

After a moment, Rocket then stepped away from Tinker and met her worried gaze. The petite female took in a deep shuddering breath but nodded, letting him know that he should go. Dipping his head back at his mate, Rocket then held the keys firm within his palms as he turned around to leave.

...

Cautiously looking about, Rocket made sure that they were not being watched before he unlocked the gate to the adult pens and briskly ran on his knuckles across the yard to where Caesar and Koba were. As he neared the other two, the bulky chimp took a moment to adjust the rifle that was strapped to his back before handing the keys to Caesar. The nearly hairless chimp kept his eyes about as the two apes unchained themselves from their bindings before unlocking their own cages and stepping out of them.

"No more cages," Koba said through gritted teeth. "Never again."

To that, both Caesar and Rocket agreed as they all glanced around themselves to make sure it was safe before keeping themselves low and dashed through the campgrounds. The three apes quietly discreetly kept to the shadows as they hid behind the many large objects, away from the prying eyes of the human soldiers who were still up. Moving through the darkness the trio found themselves in a murky alley between the soldier's darkened barracks and pen containing the ape children, whom were huddled together for warmth.

Taking a glance behind them, Caesar could see that Koba at least made some attempt to cover their tracks that were left in the fresh snow. The bonobo was quickly spun around by Rocket, who shook his head side to side quickly. As much as they hated leaving any indication of their whereabouts laying about, there was simply no time and nothing to be done about it. They must move on. All they could do now was hope that the tracks went unnoticed until it was too late for the human soldiers to react.

Making their way up to the gates of the children's pen, Caesar had then quickly made his way up to the enclosure, fiddling around with all the keys to see which one fits the keyhole. While Caesar was trying to get the gates to open, both Koba and Rocket were on lookout, making sure that no humans were making their way toward them in the middle of the night.

After a tense moment, the sounds of the gate being unlocked caught the attention of both Koba and Rocket. Caesar-who spared not even a single second-had already rushed in and was working on the secondary gates. Both Koba and Rocket followed after the ape leader and they all noticed that the children were all stirring from their sleep by the odd commotion not too far from them. Once the second set of gates were finally opened, Caesar, Koba and Rocket entered into the pen and watched as the children slowly got up dozily, rubbing at their eyes and separating themselves from each other as they started to take notice of the adults.

...

Despite their age, the little ones had learned too well that attracting the humans' attention was to be avoided at all costs. They kept quiet as the three adults were slowly being swarmed by the children. Their wide, hopeful eyes tore at Koba's own heart as he gently patted their heads and helped the other two to shush them. Glancing in both Caesar and Rocket's direction, he could make out that the two were looking for their own child from among the crowd. It was not long before both Caesar and Rocket were rewarded by the sight of both Cornelius and Cinder from among the small bodies. The two practically broke into a run and jumped into their fathers' opened arms, who embraced them tightly, never wanting to let them go.

"I love you, son," Koba could hear Caesar say emotionally as held Cornelius close to him.

Rocket on the other hand had let out soft coos, to calm his little one. Gritting his teeth and swallowing hard, Koba had turned away from the scene of the parents reuniting with their child, to give them a sense of privacy. However, that was not technically true, as he felt quite left out as he very much had no child nor offspring to call his own… Instead, Koba continued to gently pat the children around him, making sure that they were comforted as well, while they have yet to be back with their own parents.

As Koba helped calm the rest of the children around them, out of the corner of his golden-green eye, he saw the frightened gaze of pale silvery ones.

" _Silver?_ " Koba gestured to the young one who sniffed quietly as he looked about for his own parents before meeting the scarred bonobo once more.

Seeing Grey's littlest one, looking so lost, caused a lump to form within Koba's throat. He then reached out to Silver who quickly took that as an invitation and practically leaped into the older ape's arms. Hearing the soft muffled cries from Silver, Koba placed his snout atop of young one's head and hummed deeply to help keep him calm.

"You're safe now," Koba breathed gently. "I'll take you back to your mother and father, I promise."

...

As much as they all had wanted their reunion to last longer, Caesar, Rocket and Koba each shifted their own respective child onto their backs before getting all of the children to safety. They needed to act fast, lest it was too late for them.

Once they neared the pole that were connected to the electrical wire, which lead to the adult enclosure, both Caesar and Koba helped hoisted the children up onto them. They directed the young ones to cross quietly to the other side, where they would fall into the hands of the others who would catch them. The children hastily scaled the pole and scrambled out onto the electrical line strung high above the guard towers and camp, right over the heads of the soldiers that patrolled below.

Once they arrived above the adult pen, the children began dropping silently down into the waiting arms of several apes, who hastily ushered them into the direction of their parents and or guardian, whom clutched the little ones joyfully as they were reunited.

Caesar, Koba and Rocket waited until all the other children had made it safely over the adult pen before following suit. With each bearing a single child of their own, the three adults took extra care to not jostle too much, for fear of dropping their charge, before they too let go of the electrical lines and landed silently from above.

Spotting Ash, whom was busy lowering the children into the escape hole, Koba quickly maneuvered Silver onto his front and approached the younger male.

"Ash!" Koba breathed, startling the younger chimp.

"Uncle Koba?" Ash gasped back.

"Where is Maple and her parents?" Koba asked. "I have her little brother and their son."

" _Their down in the tunnel already,_ " Ash signed back.

Before Koba could say more, Ash and quickly got down low on all four and hooted gently into the hole. Before long Maurice's face came into view. Ash had then glanced back up to where Koba was and gestured for him to lower the child into the orangutan's arms. Koba hesitated for a moment but handed Silver to Maurice who gently cradled the little chimp and disappeared with the child back into the hole.

Getting on his knees as well, Koba peered into the underground tunnel and could see the shaggy ape handing Silver off to both Grey and Cedar. Both, whom tearfully, along with Maple embraced the young one gratefully. Seeing Grey's family whole again brought a warmth deep within Koba's chest as he watched the reunion. Grey had then glanced upwards at the opening and spotted Koba. A genuine and thankful smile spread upon the brown haired chimpanzee's face.

" _Thank you,_ " Grey thankfully signed at Koba. " _Thank you for bringing us back our son._ "

Koba didn't say anything and instead simply nodded once at his good old friend. Easing himself away from the hole, Koba had looked up at the sky and noticed that the edge of the horizon seemed to be a little brighter. Was it nearing morning already? It only seemed like just a couple of hours since they've all planned their escape. But then again, there was that moment where the Colonel came in to disrupt things.

Looking over towards his right he then saw Rocket making his way towards Ash with Tinker in tow, now holding Cinder within her arms. Now their family was back together as well. All that leaves… Letting his gaze wander around the enclosure pen enclosure that they were in, Koba spotted Caesar whom still hugged little Cornelius close to his chest. A lump had set within Koba's throat as he could only watch from afar the lonesome father and son duo. Cornelia and Blue Eyes should be by their side. Instead, they were taken from both Caesar and Cornelius, ripped away by the Colonel.

And it was all because of him.

However, as he remembered the man, a cold icy fire erupted within Koba's chest, causing him to bare his fangs and hair to stand on end as he turned his attention toward the watchtower, where the Colonel's keep was. If he were there now, he would no doubt make the man wish that Koba himself had never existed. But alas, now was not the time and they needed to escape before this human army that Caesar spoke of, came in the morning.

…

Bad Ape waited anxiously as he eyed the pit from where the apes were supposed to come out from the tunnels. Along with him was the white haired gorilla-aptly called Winter, Spear and a few others. They were the first few grown up apes that had led the injured, old and pregnant safely through the tunnels. The rocky outcropping shielded them all from the human's view, but provided little to no protection against the cold winds.

Bade Ape had directed the others to the safety of the forest, cautioning them to make haste. They all did as asked and trudged on first. From the corner of his eye, Bad Ape saw that the white haired gorilla-Winter-was hand-speaking with a pregnant female. Another gorilla from the looks of it. From the looks of their faces and interaction with one another, Bad Ape could tell that they cared for the other deeply. If he didn't know any better, he would think that the pregnant female wanted to stay to which Winter was aptly against and was most likely telling her to go with the others.

After a brief more moments with their hand-speak, the pregnant female finally caved in and lowered her head. Bad Ape watched as Winter gently lifted the female's head up with a finger to her chin and gestured to her. Whatever the gesture was, it had slightly brightened up the female's features and she nodded once at the white haired gorilla. So, along with the others, the pregnant gorilla followed after and headed toward the safety of the forest beyond.

A noise echoed up from the depths of the pit, causing Bad Ape and the others to peer down it. There they saw Nova guiding a large group of little apes out of the tunnel to the base of the pit, where she steered them toward the ladder leading up to the surface. Snow fell past the children as they began to climb the ladder, one after another. They looked nervously up at Bad Ape, not recognizing him. He felt a pang in his heart as he recalled his own lost one as he stared into their frightened confused faces.

"It's okay," he said softly, urging them on. "Come, come…"

It was then that Spear, Winter and the rest of the others that were with him stepped in and signed at the little ones. Bad Ape wasn't sure what was told to the young apes but the tension and apprehension that they held for him, dissipated and small little limbs reached outward. Smiling warmly, Bad Ape had reached forward and took a hold of the nearest child and brought them up to safety, working along with the others around him.

In no time at all, Bad Ape and the others had brought up a whole troop of ape children, whom huddled together behind the outcropping with some of the other adults that had stayed behind. Maurice followed the last of them out of the pit and joined Bad Ape, Nova, Spear, Winter and the others.

Taking the initiative, Bad Ape crept up to the side of the outcroppings and just like earlier for the other apes that had crossed, pulled out the binoculars that hung around his neck. Making sure that the coast was clear for them all, Bad Ape finally turned around and gestured toward the others.

"Go, go, go!" he whispered to the other apes and children, waving them on with his hand while he lingered behind toe keep watch on the camp.

Bad Ape watched as Maurice led the little ones across and a few of the adults across the flats, toward the lower slopes of the mountain that loomed over the camp, into the safety of the forest. Meanwhile the other few adults that stayed with him help guided the little ones after the orangutan. They all ran single file toward the snowy, wooded hillside as fast as their feet and knuckles could carry them. Should they reach the forest and meet up with the others, maybe that should be enough to hide them away from the watchful eyes of the human soldiers that patrolled about.

 _Go, go! Run away! Run from the bad place!_ Bad Ape thought within his mind as he watched them go.

…

After the children had gone on through, it was the rest of the adult's turn. Rocket, along with Caesar, Ash, Grey and Andy took charge of urging the other apes down into the tunnels. As much as they dug through the hole for the bigger apes, it was still a tight squeeze for the gorillas and orangutans, that was proven with the first few. However, they managed still and were able to press on without much further complications. Many of the adults had wanted to stay with their own children during their escape but were persuaded that it was better to get all of the children clear of the camp first just in case the humans suddenly caught onto what was happening. It was a silent agreement between all of them that they did not want any children to be left in the pen, should the human soldiers started firing on them escaping apes.

It had taken much longer than they had liked to get everyone out, but finally the last of the apes had exited the pen, leaving only Rocket, his family, Koba and Caesar behind. Rocket and the rest curiously looked at Caesar, finding that the ape leader was standing by the gate, staring up at the Colonel's watchtower, which was lit up from the inside. They assumed that Caesar was keeping an eye out in case the Colonel suddenly appeared in the window again. However, the windows remain empty… for now.

Not wanting to push their luck, Rocket turned to his mate and son,

" _Go,_ " Rocket signed at the two.

" _No, father!_ " Ash signed.

" _We are not leaving without you,_ " Tinker jumped in as well.

" _I will not be long. I promise,_ " Rocket assured his beloved family and pressed his head against theirs. " _Now, go! We will follow._ "

Both Ash and Tinker paused for a moment but nodded silently at the older male's orders. The two of them quickly embraced Rocket once more before entering the hole that led into the tunnel as well.

Watching them leave, Rocket heaved out a sigh and unstrapped the rifle behind his back and turned around to fetch Caesar. Not to his surprise, the nearly bald chimpanzee had also saw the scarred bonobo approaching the ape leader and stood next to him. Approaching the two, Rocket watched as Caesar remained where he was, his golden-green eyes remained fixated upon the lighted window high in the tower. Rocket wasn't sure himself as to why Caesar was delaying. The other apes were safely gone; there was no need to linger or keep watching out for the Colonel anymore. He turned to look at Koba whom was watching Caesar with his own golden-green and milky white eyes, before turning his curious gaze toward Rocket and then back to their silent friend.

" _Caesar? What's wrong?_ " Rocket signed as he approached the other chimpanzee. " _We must hurry. Let's go!_ "

There was silence from the other chimpanzee, which was soon broken with his own voice.

"By the time the sun rises. You all will be on your way… to our new home," Caesar spoke quietly.

Upon hearing these words, both Rocket and Koba eyed each other, not understanding what Caesar's words had meant for them, even when their friend had turned around to grimly look at them.

"Hurry, you both must go," Caesar ushered.

It was then that both Rocket and Koba realized that Caesar did not intend to join them at all.

"Caesar?!" Koba spoke up.

" _Without you? No…_ " Rocket signed solemnly.

A hint of regret appeared upon Caesar's determined features, but he did not relent. His course was clearly set, as it had been the moment he found his wife and firstborn murdered in their home.

"Maurice was right," he spoke up. "I could not escape my hate," Caesar finished as he turned his vengeful eyes upon the Colonel's tower. "He took too much from me."

Rocket lowered his gaze. He wanted to change Caesar's mind, to convince him that the apes needed him more than his revenge. But then he took a moment to remember his own anger after Koba had nearly killed Ash. His own want for revenge and wanting the scarred bonobo dead for what he did. But now… now it was different and it had changed. Koba had changed. Maybe…

"Don't." Koba's voice spoke up raggedly, causing both Caesar and Rocket to look at the scarred bonobo. "Don't go."

Caesar however merely stared at Koba, but said nothing else, waiting for the scarred bonobo to continue.

"It… it will not help. If you go there. And kill him," Koba huffed as he lowered his head in shame.

He then reached up and placed a hand over his chest, lifting his worried gaze back up at Caesar.

"The pain… It never goes away, Caesar. It just makes it worse. An empty cold feeling… I know from doing it myself," Koba explained.

From what Caesar and Rocket could see, Koba was shaking as he explained this to them. They did not know if it was due to the cold or something else, but Koba's voice wavered as he continued.

"Please… don't go. I… we have already lost too much. If what you say is true. About the humans soldiers. Then let the humans kill each other. Let's just go," Koba begged.

Rocket was quite speechless. In all of his time knowing Koba, the bonobo hardly ever begged. Yes, there were moments where he would ask for forgiveness from Caesar when he was disciplined, but never in a begging state like this. Caesar on the other hand, merely offered Koba a solemn smile. The ape leader had then reached up and gently took hold of Koba's head and slowly pulled their foreheads together. The two stayed like that for a moment, before Caesar pulled his head back to look at Koba, a relieved and thankful look upon his face.

"Thank you, Koba. For everything," Caesar spoke quietly confusing Koba.

"Cae-"

Before Koba could even finish Caesar's name; with a blink of an eye, Caesar had yanked the rifle away from Rocket and slammed the butt end of it atop of Koba's head. Like a sack of heavy bricks, Koba's form fell into a heap upon the snowy ground.

" _What did you do that for?!_ " Rocket signed in panic as he knelt down to assess the damage upon their friend's head.

"I needed a way to stop him. He was going to go with me, even if I told him no," Caesar explained.

So full of emotion, Rocket did not know what to sign or say. Instead he looked over the unconscious Koba, making sure that he was fine before meeting Caesar's gaze again.

"Please, Rocket," Caesar spoke up softly as he handed Rocket back the rifle. "Understand."

Standing up quickly, Rocket took the weapon away from Caesar and sternly met his friend's gaze. Caesar simply stared back and stood unmoving from his spot. Maybe Rocket himself should knock Caesar over the head as well and drag both him and Koba back to the others.

But what would that solve? Caesar would simply just go back.

Seeing the emotional determination set within Caesar's eyes, Rocket couldn't help but lower his shoulders. Caesar was very bent on seeking his revenge, so much so that he had resolved to what he came to do and nothing he, Koba, nor the others would say, was going to deter Caesar. Even if it was young Cornelius as well.

" _You are… really going to do this?_ " Rocket asked.

Caesar only nodded.

Caesar had made his decision, and as much as Rocket hated it, he was going to respect his friend's choice. Letting out a shuddering sigh, he finally nodded at Caesar, accepting the inevitable. He was tempted to join Caesar in his search for vengeance, but already know what his role was going to be, even before Caesar had said it.

"Rocket," the bald chimp looked at the ape leader. "Please look after my son. Make sure that Koba gets to safety. Tell them… tell them I'm sorry."

Rocket turned his head away and shut his eyes tightly for a moment before nodding his head. He did not like the position that Caesar had put him in, but it was the request of his best friend. Turning to look back at Caesar, Rocket could see the sadness within the ape leader's golden-green eyes. Like with Koba before, Caesar had reached up and pulled Rocket forward as well, pulling their foreheads together as they shared a moment of silent communication.

Caesar then pulled away from Rocket and looked his friend in the eyes.

"Go. Take Koba and go," he said.

Rocket strapped the rifle to his back again and heaved Koba's heavy body up onto his shoulder before reluctantly returning to the entrance that led back into the tunnel. Glancing back over his shoulder, he paused with the unconscious Koba on his shoulders, to look at Caesar one last time before descending carefully into the tunnel after the others.

Rocket wished his friend all the luck in the world.

And wished that the Colonel will pay for his crimes.

* * *

 **As you readers may already know, I used a lot of the deleted scenes from War of the Planet of the Apes for this chapter and hoped you guys liked it.**

 **Regarding the part where the Colonel referencing Malcolm and being shot at... well I would like to refer you all all the way back to chapter 41.**

 **I think I like it that Koba refers to Malcolm not by his name but by his nickname "Stupid Human."**

 **Reunions everywhere and a little bit more on Winter and Coral.**

 **I hope you all have a wonderful time reading this chapter.**

 **Happy Readings!**


	69. Chapter 69

**A very short but important chapter. Happy Readings.**

* * *

While keeping an eye out for the others with the binoculars within his hands, Bad Ape perked up when he heard strange noises in the distance. Curiously, he had set the binoculars down to a moment and glanced behind him, letting his gaze rise up toward the distant sky. Aside from the scampering sounds of the little ones, heading for safety, Bad Ape swore he could hear the sounds of ominous rumbling in the distance.

"Hear that?" Bad Ape asked one of the older apes behind him.

One of them-Spear-stopped for a moment and listened as well and his brows rose significantly in worry. Turning to the others he quickly signed at them and then at the little ones, urging them to move faster.

Bad Ape did not understand what it was or what Spear had said to them all, but it was enough to cause the air to go tense all around them. Joining quickly with the others, Bad Ape too assisted in guiding the little ones to safety and urging them on.

"Go, go, go!" Bad Ape ushered the little ones on as the rumbling sounds became louder and louder.

Just a few seconds after, there was a shout from within the compound, followed by the sounds of missiles firing off into the sky. Bad Ape flinched at the loud noise and quickly reeled himself around to see what was going on. All of a sudden, he saw fire erupting from within the bad place, followed by several more things raining down from the sky, causing more flames to rise in a horrendous boom.

As the alarms sounded off, Bad Ape had snapped his head backward and brought his binoculars up toward his eyes. A jolt of fear ran down his spine as the terrifying source of the rumbling came into focus.

The dark forms of helicopters in the distance.

…

Up on the top of the buildings, Caesar watched the human soldiers scurry about, shouting wildly at each other as the sirens assaulted his ears. Making his way along the edge of the snow-covered rooftop, Caesar had paused a moment as he reached the Colonel's watchtower. He observed as frantic soldiers shouted and banged at the man's door, yelling up at the tower for the Colonel. They were obviously distressed and seeking the Colonel out to guide them, lead them on through this battle that was happening. Looking up at the tower, Caesar couldn't help but think to himself.

 _Was the Colonel abandoning his people?_

Taking notice of the of the railing, which the Colonel usually heads on out to greet his soldiers, Caesar could see that one of the windows were opened, leading inside. It looks like he would need to climb the flag that hung right underneath the railing to get to it.

It was now or never.

Before the man could join his soldiers, it was the only moment that Caesar was going to be given at a chance for his revenge.

The time had come. Caesar gauged the distance between the roof's edge and the flag that hung right under the window above. Backing up to get a running start, he took a deep breath, mustered all of his remaining strength and vigor, and launched himself off the rooftop toward the tower.

…

" _Rocket? What happened to Koba?_ " Tinker signed fearfully at her mate and noticing the unconscious bonobo.

The petite female then paused and noticed that someone else was missing.

" _Rocket? Where is Caesar?_ " she asked.

" _Father, what happened?_ " Ash asked as well, along with many others.

"No time!" Rocket grunted as he strained against Koba' heavy body. "Must go! Now!"

All of a sudden there was a violent rumble and the frozen earth shook around them, nearly causing them all to falter. Many of the apes reacted in dismay but it only meant that what Caesar had told them was true. That the other humans were coming to fight with the ones here. Dirt rained down from above and Rocket feared for the structural integrity of the passage that they were all in. It felt like an earthquake, but the battle-scarred chimpanzee knew better. They were shockwaves from large explosions from above.

More explosions shook the tunnels, which were crammed with apes of all shapes and sizes, slowing their progress toward the waiting ladder at the other end. More of the ceiling began to give way, adding to Rocket's fear that the tunnels might soon collapse on top of them in the human's war. Despite the conflict being waged on the surface, there was no safety to be found down here; they needed to keep moving and catch up with the rest of the others that had gone ahead, as well as the children.

Grunting, Rocket took notice of Grey and Andy and approached them quickly with Koba.

"Grey! Andy!" Rocket barked, grabbing the two chimp's attention before handing Koba off to them.

The two chimps had many questions as to why Rocket was handing an unconscious Koba off to them but Rocket held out his hand to stop them from asking any questions.

" _No time for answers! I must go on ahead and see what is going on!_ " He explained quickly. " _Watch after, Koba!_ "

He then went on over to where Tinker and Ash were, letting them know that he was going on ahead to assess what was going on. There Rocket had asked his eldest to keep an eye over their family and urged them to hurry through the tunnels after him. Knowing what he must do, Tinker placed a gentle hand upon her mate's shoulder to which Rocket held for a quick moment before taking off.

Gripping his rifle, Rocket then moved forward, pushing his way through the bodies of the other apes. It was a tight squeeze, but he kept shoving forward, desperate to reach the surface. For all he knew, the children, Maurice and the others could be trapped in the middle of the war-or if worse case, had already been blown apart by the explosions. Shaking that horrible thought away, Rocket continued onward, barking at the other apes and signing at them to let him through.

…

Lowering the binoculars downward, Bad Ape could see masses of bodies of soldiers, dressed in all white, approaching them. From behind the soldiers, he could make out several lights that erupted into the sky, all sailing through the air, heading right toward the bad place. With that horrific realization, Bad Ape quickly let go of his binoculars.

"Down! Down! Down!" Bad Ape shouted as he turned around to the others.

Quickly thinking, Bad Ape then stopped a few of the little ones from progressing any further. Then, just ahead he saw a couple of them that were still out in the open. Fearing for their lives, he threw his body protectively over the two little ones in front of him as missiles bombarded into the human zoo, right behind the wall. He watched in horror as entire sections of the interior of the compound erupted into flames as they were blown apart.

With the little apes underneath him screaming in fear, Bad Ape suddenly felt strong grips latching onto his ankles and yanking him backwards, along with the children. Once pulled away, Bad Ape turned around to see the wild eyes of both Spear and Winter, whom turned their heads back and forth at the sudden attack from all sides.

Getting back up quickly, Bad Ape eyed the oncoming human soldiers once more and couldn't help but whimper to himself.

What were they going to do now?

…

Pulling himself up and over onto the railing, Caesar landed with finesse, ignoring the booming thunder of noise, sounding off behind him. Advancing cautiously through the Colonel's watchtower, Caesar kept his senses keen and clear as he knew better than to proceed rashly when his quarry might well be waiting with a loaded firearm.

It was odd though, the area that Caesar was traversing in looked like a storm had come through it. With disheveled papers and boxes strewn about, along with many other various things. Much different from when he was here a couple of nights ago.

What had happened here?

Approaching the table that the Colonel always found himself looming over, Caesar saw that there was the canteen that the man had with him earlier. Its content now spilled over the table, stinking it up with the residue from within. As he eyed the pool of liquid, Caesar noticed a picture of a little boy, sitting within the alcoholic contents. Picking up the photo, Caesar observed the picture for a mere moment before quietly placing it back down upon the table.

Making his way to one side of the opened entrance way into the back area, Caesar peered inside the room, which appeared to be the Colonel's private sleeping quarters. And within the darkness, illuminated by the faintest of the orange glow of a lantern, Caesar saw its occupant…

And his target.

The Colonel was sprawled on his stomach on a cot. His head drooped forward, while a flailing hand groped for the bottle containing alcohol that was just out of reach. Spotting the the Colonel's firearm just beside the bedside, Caesar approached the weapon and claimed it, lifting the gun slowly so that it was aimed right at the man's head.

Pitiless golden-green eyes glared down at the Colonel as Caesar recalled all of the innocent blood on this man's hands. All of the friends and loved ones he had taken from Caesar: Cornelia, Blue Eyes, Percy and Luca. Not to mention the countless other lives, apes and humans, that had been needlessly destroyed by the Colonel's genocidal madness.

The chimpanzee's face was as hard as granite as he prepared to finish off the Colonel once and for all. But before Caesar could pull the trigger, the human had finally lifted his head from the cot. Caesar paused, face strewn in rage that was bursting from within, wanting the Colonel to look him in the eyes, so that he would know who was sending him to his grave.

To Caesar's surprise though, when the Colonel had finally met his gaze, he was taken aback slightly when he noticed the fresh blood that was oozing down from the man's nose. The Colonel's bloodshot blue eyes were wide and unfocused, like some wounded animal. The man opened his mouth as though to speak, but nothing emerged except meaningless incoherent gasps and grunts.

Face slightly relaxing in shock, Caesar let his gaze wander around, trying to see what was going on. He then noticed an object on the floor, hidden just beneath the cot that the Colonel was on and recognized it immediately.

The girl's rag doll.

Flecks of fresh blood stained the doll, which the Colonel had carried away from Caesar's own cage, hours ago.

But why would-

Then it all suddenly made sense to Caesar. The burning of various other infected people's things during their travels and the murders of the ones who could not speak. The doll the little child had been holding onto for who knows how long, must have infected the Colonel and turned him into what he was now.

So distracted was Caesar in the sudden revelation that he was surprised when the Colonel had taken his hand that was holding the gun and guided the barrel right to his own head, cocking the hammer to the weapon. The man then closed his eyes, resigning himself to his fate, as if he wished to be taken away from whatever had happened to him.

Breath hitching up from within Caesar, he angrily pressed the barrel of the handgun upon the man's sweaty brow as images of his deceased wife, son and countless other apes came rushing back to him. All laying within the pools of their own blood, needlessly murdered in this conflict between man and ape. Caesar then reached out with his other hand and slowly pried the Colonel's own fingers away from the gun, readying himself for the inevitable.

It was now or never and the man was going to pay for all that he had done.

With his muscles strained and finger on the trigger of the firearm, Caesar tried to pull it with all of his might. To end the man's life and be done with it. To have his revenge and end all the torment that his people had gone through… but the longer he tried to force his body to do the deed. To end the man's life, who had taken everything from him. Caesar found himself…

Unable to do so.

Slowly, Caesar's stony expression softened and his strained muscles relaxing as he felt a terrible weight slide off from his shoulders. Lowering the gun down, Caesar instead simply stared down at the man.

The Colonel gaped at Caesar helplessly, confused as to why the ape leader did not go through with what he had wanted so badly. Caesar himself was just as stunned and confused by his own actions, choosing not to take his revenge and end the man's life. But, For the first time since his family had been murdered, Caesar's own heart was no longer at war with his conscious.

He need not do this. Not anymore.

Caesar lowered himself, placing the gun on top of a small table and looked at what was once the man who did terrible things to him and his apes, now straining with much difficulty to even produce a single word. Meeting each other's gaze, Caesar stared long and hard at the Colonel, pitying him.

The Colonel was not a monster nor a man anymore. He was but just a sick and sad animal, unable to even form coherent words or communicate any longer. Of all of the savage punishments that Caesar had meted out to the Colonel in his vengeful imaginings, the possibility that the Colonel himself might fall victim to the very thing he feared the most had never crossed his mind. This was something that was much worse than death for the man, and Caesar himself could see it within the Colonel's very own fearful eyes.

Caesar wondered how the Colonel must feel now?

Standing back up slowly and leaving the gun by the man's side, Caesar kept his pitying gaze upon the Colonel as he backed away. The ape leader could see that the man was losing himself again, whose eyes quickly wandered over to the gun that was placed by his side. The Colonel-in what state of conscious he had left-reached for the weapon and slowly aimed the barrel at himself.

Standing right outside of the entrance way to the open area, Caesar kept his gaze upon the man and watched the Colonel to his very last moments. Right until the sound of gunfire erupted around the both of them.


	70. Chapter 70

Red, along with his fellow renegade apes were hastily assisting the human soldiers as they fired their machine guns that were mounted on tripods, into the sky. Where overhead, helicopters from the enemy forces shot back at them relentlessly. Ducking for cover from the sudden attack, Red helplessly watched as one of the soldiers had taken out a rocket launcher and shot it at the helicopter that had flown on by them, striking it down.

Cheers from the soldiers erupted from around as they scored a direct hit on their target. While the soldiers all congratulated each other for the small victory, Red simply watched the helicopter that was now engulfed in flames, unsure of how to react. On one hand, they had taken down one of the forces from above. On the other hand, Red was, to say the least, terrified of what he was witnessing or even being a part of.

 _Was this really the capability of humans that were willing to fight each other?_

"Come on, donkey! Lets go! Reload!"

Red felt a shove from behind him, prompting him from his thoughts as he quickly got up and helped the human soldier with the machine gun. He glanced at the human for further direction on what to do but the man simply stared at something ahead. Confused, Red followed the human's gaze and to his amazement, saw a horde of apes scrambling out from behind sizable outcroppings of rocks beyond the wall. Caught between the camp and the northern army, the apes were obviously making a dash for freedom after somehow escaping from the pens that held them. They were all trying to cross the stretch toward the foothills towards the frozen forest beyond. Red couldn't help but blink in confusion, wondering how and when the apes had gotten free from their chains.

All of a sudden the machine gun right next to rusted haired gorilla sounded off and red hot bullets sailed through the air, aiming straight toward the fleeing apes. Red watched with growing horror from within him as apes suddenly fell onto the frozen ground, one by one. He could do nothing but simply observe as the apes were being needlessly slaughtered before his eyes.

…

High up in the watchtower, Caesar approached the railings and noticed that his apes were taking heavy fire from the soldiers on the wall. From his elevated vantage point, he watched in horror, desperate for a way to keep his apes from behind slaughtered by the human soldiers. Scanning the camp below, searching for a strategy, his eyes locked onto one of the tankers that was spilling out its fuel contents, all over the ground.

That was how!

Before Caesar could do anything, the sounds of roaring rockets in the air caught his attention and he quickly ducked as the campgrounds erupted into a blaze. Recovering from the sudden shock, Caesar quickly glanced down the railing to see that the flag underneath had caught on fire. Remembering that there was a bandolier of grenades on the table, he raced back into the Colonel's trashed command center.

Fists pounded furiously on the other side of the barricaded door; the Colonel's officers had finally managed to break through the locked door below and make it up the stairs. Unfortunately, they were calling out to a dead man, but Caesar did not care; they could find their leader's corpse on their own. Instead he aimed right toward the bandolier and snatched it off of the table as quickly as he could. Just as Caesar had grabbed them, the soldiers had smashed through the crudely constructed barricade. The soldier saw the sight of the chimpanzee and went for their weapons, aiming them right at the escaping intruder.

Bullets slammed into the walls and other objects around Caesar as he rushed out onto the railing that jutted outside and leapt right off of it. Reaching out, he grabbed at the flagpole, which only barely supported his weight, breaking his fall. The end of the pole tore loose from its moorings, but Caesar held onto it for dear life, riding it down toward the ground before letting go and tumbling onto the snowy floor of the campgrounds.

The rough landing knocked the breath from Caesar's lungs, but he quickly sprang to his feet and took off across the yard, as the enraged officers fired on him from the tower above. Bullets slammed into the ground behind him, tearing up the ice and snow. But Caesar moved on, running forward to save his apes from the danger of the soldiers on the wall.

…

Hundreds of apes were pinned down behind the outcropping, driven back from the hills by the machine-gun fire from the wall. Not for the first time, Rocket wished dearly that they could have made their escape under the cover of darkness and before the other humans from the north could arrive with their army. But now they had to make do with what they had. Taking a moment, Rocket fired back at the wall with the rifle that he had kept on him, hoping to provide cover for the other apes, some of whom were still emerging from the tunnels-like Tinker and Ash-to discover that there was nowhere to go.

Simian bodies of all kinds were cut down by the human's weapons. Littering the icy flats between the outcropping and the foothills. According to Bad Ape, Spear and Winter, they had explained that Maurice, the pregnant, wounded, elder apes and most of the children had managed to make it into the side of the forest and up the mountains at least. The rest of them though, were trapped here behind the rocks.

With nowhere to go.

…

Keeping back, out of the line of fire, Red realized that the apes, despite all the torture they had went through, were fighting back as a few stray bullets struck the machine-gun next to him.

Fighting for survival.

For some reason or another, the sight of the besieged apes coming under fire bothered Red more that he thought it should. He had no love for Caesar and the apes, who had chosen to side with the chimpanzee and betrayed him. Even for Koba, an ape he had once idolized, who had fallen so far from grace that the scarred bonobo was nothing but a stain now to the apes… but then something did strike out to Red in regards to Koba. For all of what the scarred bonobo had done, Koba had always fought to protect apes from humans… not the other way around.

 _Apes fight war to protect apes. Not to help humans._

Koba's words echoed into Red's mind, causing guilt to prick at his conscience.

 _I did not have a choice… I don't have a choice. None_ , Red thought to himself.

But what would Koba have done?

"Donkey! Donkey!" the gunning soldier beside bellowed at Red, jolting the rusted haired gorilla from his bitter musings. "Grenade launcher!"

Flustered from the order, Red stepped behind the soldier and searched through one of the packs to retrieve the demanded weapon. As he finally found the firearm and fished it out, Red was startled by what he saw down in the camp far below.

Caesar was racing on all fours across the prison yard with mortar shells, arcing over the wall and hitting the ground, exploding in the chimpanzee's path. To Red's astonishment, the ape leader kept on going. Darting around and charging fearlessly through the billowing smoke around him. Red continued to watch in awe, despite himself as Caesar rushed toward a large tanker that sat by the base of the wall. Looking back and forth quickly, Red's acid-green eyes then noticed the bandolier of grenades that Caesar had around him. The ape leader was less than thirty feet from the tanker, and closing in, when he plucked a grenade from the belt and reared back to throw it. Everything slowed down as Red watched Caesar reaching up for the pin on the grenade that he had just pulled. But then something dark, darted from out of sight and struck the ape leader in the side, causing Caesar's face to contort in pain and agony, before collapsing onto the ground.

Red gasped at the sudden turn of events and lifted his gaze up to see Preacher stalking his way out of the smoke toward Caesar, his bowgun in hand. Letting his gaze fall back onto Caesar, Red could see a bolt sticking out from the other ape's side. Watching the human soldier loading another bolt into his weapon, Red then noticed Caesar struggling in pain as he snapped off the steel shaft that pierced his body, leaving the point embedded in his flesh. He watched as the ape leader grimaced as he turned to see Preacher approach him, ready to loose another bolt from his weapon.

Red couldn't tear himself away from the scene.

"God damn it, donkey! Get me the launcher!" The human soldier shouted from behind Red, causing him to flinch at the horrid noise.

Grunting, Red briefly stared back down at Caesar and Preacher for a moment before standing back up and turned away from the two. As he approached the human soldier, Red stopped a moment to think once more. Images of the machine-gun bringing down apes, who would of course stand no chance once they were bombarded by the grenade launchers. Images of apes being blown apart again by the grenades filled Red's mind, shaking him to his core.

What would Pope do?

What would Koba do?

What would Caesar do?

Pausing, Red slowly looked down at the weapon in his hands as his heart pounded deep within his chest.

What should I do?

…

Pain stabbed at Caesar with every movement and every breath he took. Even worse though, was the knowledge that he had come so close to freeing his apes, only to be brought down by a human whose life he had once spared.

Lying in the snow covered ground, Caesar saw Preacher brandishing his freshly loaded crossbow. The injured ape could do nothing as he met the eyes of the human as he grimaced at the pain that erupted from his side. With the grenades resting nearby and just out of reach, it pained Caesar the most as he knew that should the human shoot him now, he would not be able to save his apes from danger. It was ironic really, that it would be Preacher of all people, not the Colonel, not Red, who would ultimately end him.

The young soldier halted several feet away from Caesar, staring down unhappily at his victim, as if conflicted. That was but only briefly before Preacher raised his crossbow and took aim right at Caesar's heart, face set in a stern resolve. Caesar braced himself for the fatal shot, regretting that he could not save his apes one last time. It was up to Rocket, Maurice, Koba and the rest now.

Setting his mouth into a thin line, Caesar face his death head-on, staring back at Preacher. Before anything had happened though a deafening blast erupted right in front of him, causing Caesar to cover his face on instinct. Coughing, Caesar glanced back and saw that Preacher had vanished from his spot, leaving nothing behind by charred, unrecognizable fragments and a blackened crater.

Dazed, Caesar's ears still rang from the blast as he blinked in surprise. It all had happened so fast that it took him another second to realize that he was still alive and that Preacher was… gone.

As the smoke cleared around him, Caesar looked around in confusion, trying to see what had happened. Glancing over his shoulder, Caesar was then surprised to see Red standing high on the wall, holding onto a grenade launcher within his hands, smoke slowly spewing out at the end of the barrel. The renegade gorilla gazed stoically down at Caesar, who still could not believe his eyes.

The rusted haired gorilla stood calmly on the wall with the soldiers, cradling the weapon, looking more at peace than Caesar had ever seen him before. For a second, Red reminded Caesar of the once loyal ape he had known years ago. Part of the Gorilla guard with his brothers, standing tall to defend the colony from any outside intruders, friend to many of the apes. Before he had thrown in with Pope and turned against Caesar and the other apes. Before he had sided with the humans against his own kind.

The human soldier behind Red was notably less serene in his actions. With his ears still ringing from the explosion, Caesar could not hear what the soldier was screaming at Red, but the furious human was obviously shocked and outraged by what the gorilla had just done. The man drew his sidearm and pointed it at Red, who made no acknowledgement nor effort to escape his fate that was to come. He merely gazed down at Caesar, a regretful and apologetic look within his acid-green eyes, until the bang and flash of a muzzle signaled his end.

Caesar regretted the other ape's sacrifice. Red must have known what would happen to him if he fired upon Preacher. That they, the humans would have killed him if he had betrayed them. But Red had done so anyway, trading his life for Caesar's when it mattered the most.

The human soldier who had killed Red pointed his gun at Caesar and opened fire. Reacting quickly, the wounded chimpanzee had snatched the fallen grenade from the snow and sprang to his feet, despite the sharp pain to his side, caused by the sudden motion. Gritting his teeth, Caesar pulled the pin from the grenade and hurled it straight at the leaking tanker beside the wall.

The soldier watched in horror as the grenade arced toward the tank car, even as Caesar had spun around and sprinted away from the tanker as fast as he could.

The leaking tanker erupted like a gigantic fire bomb once the grenade had gone off. Towering flames engulfed the entire section of the wall, consuming all the soldiers in the enormous blast that dwarfed the one that had killed Preacher. The din from the explosion drowned out the world, including Caesar's own pounding heartbeat as he raced onward, before being thrown forward from the blast.

Landing hard onto the frozen earth, Caesar grunted and gasped for a moment before he slowly pulled himself up to look at the destruction. Billowing black smoke, reeking of burning fuel, rose like a malignant cloud toward the sky. Blasted wooden logs, boulders, and slabs of concrete laid out in a blaze.

A wheezing sound off to the side had caught Caesar's attention, causing him to turn toward it to see what it was. His heart pounded within his chest as he took noticed a second tanker that has now caught on fire and was spewing flames as well. Reacting quickly, Caesar got on all fours and raced toward the adult pen, just as the second tanker had exploded. The explosion had caused a chain reaction, setting off one tanker after another, blasting the camp apart. Sprinting toward the tunnel's entrance within the adult pen, Caesar tumbled into it, right before the cataclysmic explosion destroyed everything within its path.

Landing on the ground and rolling onto his hands and feet, Caesar raced through the crumbling tunnels, which were already collapsing around him, followed by the explosion from behind. Dirt and ice rained down, threatening to bury him alive as his feet and knuckles splashed through the muddy puddles. Caesar had never navigated these tunnels before, let alone in the dark, so he gasped in relief as he spied a shaft of daylight shining down from above the surface. He rushed toward the source of light and leaped right at the bottom of its opening, landing on his stomach and covered his head, as the tunnel behind him had collapsed away.

…

After the sudden explosion from within the camp, Rocket glanced back at the treacherous place and saw that it was alit with flames. Feeling fingers closing around his, Rocket turned to look down at his side and noticed that Tinker too was staring at the burning flames with wide bright green eyes, with Ash standing just on her other side as well. Reaching over, Rocket made sure that both is mate and son were fine before checking on the others around them who seemed more shocked than injured.

As much as Rocket would like to know what had caused such a thing, he was not going to dwell on this and allow this moment of escape to pass on by. Letting out a grunt, he then ushered everyone toward the forest and mountain ahead, telling Ash, Spear and Winter to make sure the apes were heading there. Understanding the urgency of this dire moment, the apes quickly did as they were instructed and retreated toward the safety of the forest and mountain. Hand still entwined with his mate's, both Rocket and Tinker quickly followed.

Just as they reached the cliffs, Rocket had taken notice that a few of the apes seemed to be having trouble. Taking a moment to tell Tinker to go on ahead with Ash and the other, Rocket quickly approached the source of the problem. Nearing the apes Rocket came to see that it was both Grey and Andy, both whom were having trouble with their charge-Koba, who seemed to be struggling within their arms.

" _What is going on?_ " Rocket asked confusingly.

" _He just woke up!_ " Andy signed in panic. " _From the explosion!_ "

" _And he started lashing out at us,_ " Grey finished as he tried his best to hold down the scarred bonobo to no avail.

The two chimpanzees yelped in surprise when they were suddenly tossed away and Koba stood up abruptly onto his feet, a rather delirious look upon his features.

"Caezar?!" Koba slurred as he quickly looked around himself, only to find the mentioned ape not among them.

" _Koba?_ " Rocket signed slowly as he set his rifle down while approaching the scarred bonobo.

"Rocket?" Koba said slowly and nearly faltered before he righted himself back up. "C-Caesar? Where Caesar?" he asked quickly once more. "Where is he?"

Rocket's brows furrowed in worry as he continued the slow approach toward his friend.

" _Caesar, he… he stayed behind,_ " Rocket explained. " _Went after the Colonel. Tried to stop him but he would not come._ "

Koba's eyes merely widened as he comprehended Rocket's words and quickly did a double take at the campgrounds, seeing it on fire. For whatever had transpired during his unconscious state, Koba saw that the camp now laid in a waste of flames and destruction. With charred and flaming debris still raining down on the canyon below.

Watching Koba, Rocket noticed the scarred bonobo's shoulders lowering as he kept his gaze upon the destruction before them.

"Where is the tunnel?"

Rocket perked up, surprised by the sudden question.

"Rocket. Where. Is. The tunnel?" Koba asked again.

At this Rocket set his mouth into a thin line and shook his head. He knew exactly why Koba was asking and it best that he did not know. Caesar couldn't possibly survive such a terrible explosion that had occurred and was most likely have been swallowed by it.

"Koba-"

Before Rocket could tell Koba that there was no way Caesar couldn't have made it through the explosion alive, the bonobo had suddenly sprinted past him. Blinking in surprise, Rocket turned around and saw that Koba was running back the way they had come. Down the rocky and frigid slopes and crags toward the canyon below.

"Koba!" Rocket bellowed after the scarred bonobo.

…

Climbing up the ladder and finally reaching the opening of the tunnel, Caesar dragged half of his tired and beaten body out onto the snow covered ground. A stab of agony from the bolt wound to his side was so intense that he had to pause a moment to catch his breath. Gasping and panting, he let the pain subside a little before lifting his head to the side and his eyes widened in horror. The Colonel and his troops may be gone, but in their place was now another problem.

The human soldiers from the north.

The soldiers all deckered in white, were walking alongside their convoys as they made their way across the icy expanse. Rising painfully from the opening of the tunnel and onto his feet, Caesar kept close to the outcroppings as he tried to get a better look of where these humans were heading. With one hand covering his wounded side, Caesar knelt by the stone coverings and peered past them at the destroyed campgrounds. He quietly watched as the soldiers in white had ran into the camp and came out with some of the Colonel's men.

A cheer rang across the humans dressed in white as they cried out in victory against the Colonel's forces.

Hearing pounding footsteps behind him, Caesar quickly turned around and braced himself for any sudden attack. To his surprise though, his gaze fell upon a familiar looking face. One that was panting hard and stared back with golden-green and milky-white eyes.

Koba.

The scarred bonobo closed the distance between the two apes and stopped right in front of the chimpanzee a look of shock and wonder upon his features. Koba's eyes looked over Caesar, as if he wasn't sure if the chimpanzee that was standing in front of him, was real or not. Cautiously, Koba then reached out with a hand and placed it upon Caesar's shoulder, feeling the other ape's body under his touch.

Caesar was here. Caesar was alive.

With that in mind, Koba had let out a breath that he had been holding and was deeply moved to see that his Caesar was alright. That he was okay and standing there-although beaten and bruised-with him.

Meeting the chimpanzee in the eyes, Koba could see that Caesar was giving him an apologetic look. As if to say _sorry_ for rendering him unconscious before and not allowing him to go with Caesar in his revenge. As angry as he was about that, Koba did not care about it. For now though, he was just extremely happy that Caesar had survived the explosion and was there with them again.

Before the two could say or sign to each other, both Caesar and Koba paused momentarily when they heard something rumbling off in the distance. The two apes turned their attention up toward the snowy upper reaches of the mountain, where the ominous noise was coming from.

While Caesar's attention was directed toward the mountain he noticed that the cheering from the humans had died down. Confused he rounded his head to where the human soldiers were, noticing that they were staring back at both of him and Koba.

Koba, noticing this, took a step forward and placed his body protectively in front of Caesar, shielding the chimpanzee from the humans. This notion surprised Caesar and yet… it didn't as well. Remembering when Koba had tried to stop his torture, just days before. Begging that he be hit instead. Hardening his features, Koba bared his fangs at the human soldiers, who in response aimed one of their weapons at him.

Before anything could escalate any further, a giant rumbling rapidly built, causing everyone within the vicinity to turn to the upper reaches of the mountain. Dislodged by the earlier explosions, tons of packed snow, ice and rock streamed down the shattered slopes of the mountain, gaining speed and momentum at a terrifying pace. Billowing clouds of powder preceded a wall of white that cascaded over everything in its path.

Both Caesar and Koba ignored the humans and quickly made a dash back towards the other apes that were waiting for them.

…

Seeing both Caesar and Koba racing up the slopes, Maurice's features brightened up, if only momentarily. A thunderous crashing sound could be heard from behind and he quickly rounded himself to see the tidal wave of snow and ice. Panic struck Maurice and he worried about the others as he and a few others had led the bulk of the children up the mountain.

Quickly, Maurice hooted at the mothers, wounded, older apes, and newly arrived apes to help as many children as they could up the pine trees around them. Doing as they were told, all of the older apes took a child and quickly ascended to the top of the trees. Maurice-like many of the others-raced toward the nearest tree while carrying Nova on his back and ascended as fast as his limbs would allow him to.

Just then Rocket, Bad Ape, Grey, Andy, Spear, Winter and the rest of the apes had reached the ledge where Maurice and the others were before. Noticing that they were quickly climbing the trees, the group then turned their sights northward and saw the approaching avalanche. Stunned momentarily the apes stared for only a blink before they too rushed toward the trees. From among the apes, Bad Ape was quite terrified to see what was coming towards them, crying all the while and was to the spot on the ground. Luckily in just a fraction of a moment, Rocket had came back to the lanky chimpanzee and pulled him away from the sight and up toward the trees as well.

…

Further down the mountain, both Caesar and Koba had raced across the frozen crags and launched themselves into the trees. They both climbed as fast and as high as they could, rushing to get above the avalanche before it buried them alive.

It was a very close for the two apes that were still scrambling up the side of a towering pine when the forefront of the avalanche had struck, carrying a winter's worth of snow and debris down the slope at the base of the pines. A rising tide of snow chased both Caesar and Koba all the way up to the very top of their tree until it could not bear the weight any further. Under the intense weight, the pine that both Caesar and Koba were in started to bend downward. Feeling and hearing the startling crack of wood from underneath them the two apes continued to climb upon the pine tree and then leapt off of it onto another.

This time, both Caesar and Koba had nowhere else to go and ascended this new tree that they were in. Finally going no further the two apes held onto the tree and its branches for dear life. Freezing powder buffeted both Caesar and Koba, from head to toe, forcing their eyelids to shut. The endless rumble of the avalanche thundered in their ears as they fought an elemental battle against the surging ice and cold. The force of the avalanche tried to tear them both from their perch, but both Caesar and Koba wrapped their arms and legs around the tree trunk, refusing to let go or give in.

The avalanche crashed against the two apes and seemed to go on forever. But as suddenly as it had come, the tide had also quickly ceased. Replaced by a stunning silence, after the roar and rumble of the cataclysm that had just occurred.

Barely able to believe that the danger had truly passed between them, both Caesar and Koba cautiously opened their eyes.

An opaque white haze blotted out the world and everything in it from what Caesar and Koba could tell. Meeting each other's eyes, both of the apes were glad to see that the other was alright and was not taken from the avalanche. In their brief moment though, the two had let their gaze fall back down to the canyon below to see what had happened in the aftermath.

From what the two apes could see, everything was gone: the camp, the northern human army, everything.

The entire canyon itself had been buried beneath the mountain of pristine white snow, which extended out onto the wide-open expanse beyond, where no trace of the northern forces could be seen. Caesar himself scanned the plain, searching for any surviving soldiers or vehicles, but beheld only endless white as far as his own eyes could see.

"Gone."

Caesar turned his attention to his companion on the other side of him and saw that Koba was also staring down at the canyon below.

"They're all gone," the bonobo spoke in a grave voice with a stern look upon his features.

Letting his gaze fall back down to the canyon below, Caesar mulled Koba's words within his mind. As much as he would feel for the humans, Koba was probably right to state that they were gone. Should they have survived, who knows what would happen to both of them and the other apes. While in thought, Caesar's head quickly perked up, causing Koba to glance at him in alarm.

 _The other apes!_

At that thought, Caesar let his eyes wander around him and his spirits lifted when the cloud dispersed further showing shadowy figures clinging to the treetops just above the crest of the snow. Relief flooded Caesar as the figures slowly turned out to be chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos all around… all quietly chittering from their own perches.

From among the apes, a bulky chimp raised his fist into the air and began hooting. Not a second after, hoots and barks came from all around, all hailing Caesar. Seeing all of their faces, all well after the aftermath, brought a tremendous joy within Caesar's own heart. Spotting Maurice and the others, with the children higher up signified that they too were well. As his gaze traveled upward, Caesar spotted Cornelius being held onto by Lake and next to them was Tinker with Cinder in her own arms, all beaming down at him. It was here that Caesar allowed a smile to grace his lips.

"You saved them."

Caesar blinked once before turning his attention to look at Koba who in turn was keeping his gaze upon all of the other apes. Then the scarred bonobo slowly rounded his head to gaze at the ape king, a smile upon his own lips.

"You saved all of them," Koba continued.

Silently blinking, Caesar turned his attention back to the rest of the apes and then let his gaze fall back upon the bonobo on the other side of the tree from him. Caesar then reached over and placed a hand upon Koba's shoulder, causing the bonobo to curiously glance his way.

"We, saved everyone. You, Rocket, Maurice, Bad Ape, and everyone else. We all saved each other," Caesar spoke slowly.

"Thank you, Koba."

At that, Koba's eyes widened at being thanked by Caesar. He felt that he did not do much to help the apes at all. However, he humbly accepted Caesar's gratitude and turned back to the apes while throwing a fist up into the air and joined in on their jubilation.

* * *

 **So, yeah... a lot happened in this chapter. Preacher's betrayal and Red's redemption. Rocket and Maurice keeping all of the apes alive. Caesar blowing up the wall and the camp, with Koba going back for the chimp and both surviving the avalanche together.**

 **More to come soon. Happy Readings!**


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